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OUTLINES  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 

...  .•' 

FOR    THE    USE    OF    THE    SENIOR    ('LA8S 
IN     THK     TFi:oi,0(Ur',\J.     S|:MINARY      IX     PRINCETON. 


JAMES  C.  MOFFAT, 

HEl.KKA     I'llDrKSSOU     OF    rHl  lU'H     IIISTOUY. 


^ro»*  A,  J).  164H  to  1870. 


PRINCETON: 

CHAKI.ES    S.    ROBIXSON,  PRINTEK. 
1876. 


tihxavy  of  €he  Cheolo0icai  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


Prom  the  library  of 
Benjamin  Breckinriage  Warfield 


BR  149  .M623  1876 
Moffat,  James  Clement,  18111 
1890.  I 

Outlines  of  church  history 


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UltiL  3 A 


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OUTLINES  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 


FOR    THE    USE    OF    THE    SENIOR    CLASS 
IN     THE     TIIEOJ.OaiCAL     SEMINARY      IN     PRINCETON. 


"> 


JAMES  C.  MOFFAT, 


HKl.KNA     FROKESSOK     DF     (.'HIRCII     HISTORY. 


From  A,  D.  1648  to  1870. 


PRINCETON: 

CHARLES    S.    ROBINSON,  PRINTER. 

1876. 


OUTLINES  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY. 


REFORMATIOX  IX  ENGLAND. 

Reformation  began  in  England,  with  the  dawn  of 
Eng-Hsh  literature,  under  Wyclif  and  his  illustrious 
compeers.  Aid  nevei' afterward,  tliougli  fiercelj-  assailed 
hy  persecution,  and  for  a  long  time  retarded  by  the  civil 
wars,  and  the  policy  of  the  royal  house  of  Lancaster,  was 
it  entirely  suppressed.  In  the  last  years  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  reforming  party,  to  which  the  name 
Lollard  was  applied,  had  become  quite  numerous.  It 
was  estimated  by  men  of  that  time  at  about  one-fourth 
of  the  nation.  After  Wyclif's  "death,  in  1384,  the  most 
zealous  preacher  of  that  persuasion  was  William  Swin- 
derb}',  an  itinerant  minister,  who  was  attended  by  great 
numbers,  wherever  lie  preached. 

The  reign  of  Richard  II.  held  persecution  under 
restraint;  but  when,  in  1399,  that  monarch  was  deposed, 
Henry  I.V.,  to  secure  support  tor  his  usurpation,  extended 
every  favor  to  the  priesthood.  And  Parliament,  January 
21,  1401,  passed  a  law  that  persons  convicted  of  heresy 
should  be  burned  to  death,  Thomas  Arundel,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  with  great  zeal,  carried  the  law 
into  execution.  The  first  martyr  under  it,  William  CSaw- 
tray,  (or  Sautre,)  a  parish  priest  in  the  city  of  London, 
suffered  in  the  very  year  of  its  enactment.  Arundel 
died  in  1414,  and  was  succeded  b}' Henry  Chicheley,  who 
carried  forward  the  persecution  with  still  greater  severity. 
In  the  following  year,  he  obtained  a  law  enacting  that 
the  chancellor,  the  judges  and  other  magistrates,  on 
admission  to  ofiice,  should  make  oath  to  do  every  thing 
in  their  power  to  extirpate  the  Lollards.  Chicheley  was 
primate  until  1443.  Persecution  relaxed  during  the  civil 
wars,  from  1452  to  1485,  when  all  the  energies  of  the 
ruling  parties  were  absorbed  in  the  strife  with  each  other. 


After  the  accession  of  Henry  YII.  (1485,)  and  union 
of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  it  was  revived,  and 
continued  in  tlie  succeeding  reiiin.  Wolsey,  as  an  agent 
of  persecution,  under  Henry  VIII.,  witldield  its  severer 
infliction  ;  Init  when,  in  1529,  Sir  Thomas  More  became 
chanceUor,  the  fires  of  Smithfield  were  rekindled  and 
their  horrors  repeated  in  the  provinces.  The  Reforma- 
tion spirit  was  overawed,  but  not  extinguished.  In  Lon- 
don it  still  found  expression  in  the  Association  of 
"Christian  Brothers,"  founded  in  1525,  and  in  various 
ways  over  the  kingdom,  especially  in  the  sale  of  new 
translations  of  the  Scriptures. 

When,  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
voice  of  reform,  on  the  continent,  began  to  assume  a 
distinctand  uncompromising  tone,  niultitudesin  England 
were  i:)repared  to  join  in  it.  Henry  YIII.  endeavored  to 
repress  the  growing  conviction.  In  1521  lie  published  a 
treatise  in  defence  of  the  seven  sacraments,  in  opposition 
to  Luther.  The  work  was  highly  approved  of  by  the 
Pope,  who  rewarded  Henry  with  the  title  "  Defender  of 
the  faith."  His  zeal  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy  was 
further  provoked  by  the  reply  of  Luther,  which  evinced 
moi-e  controversial  fervor  than  deference  to  the  roj^al 
rank  of  his  adversary.  On  the  other  hand,  an  event  in 
the  king's  own  household  led  to  a  rupture  of  his  papal 
allegiance.  He  had  from  twelve  years  of  age  been 
married  to  his  i)rotlier's  widow,  Catherine  of  Arragon, 
maternal  aunt  of  the  emperor  Charles  Y.  The  contract 
was  formed  by  his  father,  under  a  special  dispensation 
from  Pope  Julius  II.,  but  with  its  validity  the  young 
prince  was  never  satisfied.  As  early  as  1527,  he  made 
application  to  Pope  Clement  YII.  to  have  it  declared 
null.  The  pope  delayed.  In  1530  at  the  suggestion  of 
Thomas  Cranmer,  the  king  consulted  the  learned  men 
in  the  great  universities  of  Europe.  N'ine  foreign  uni- 
versities together  with  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  many 
divines  in  all  parts  of  Europe  and  the  Convocation  of 
English  clergy  decided  that  his  view  of  the  case  was  in 
accordance  with  Scripture  an,d  the  doctrine  of  the  Catho- 
lic church.  Accordingly,  the  king  considering  his  niar- 
riaire  with  his  brother's  widow  null,  was  on  the  25th  of 


January  1533,  married  to  Anne  Boleyn.  The  Pope  gave 
judgment  agains^t  liim,  and  endeavored  to  enforce  liis 
censure.  Tlie  king  asserted  the  correctness  of  his  own 
conduct,  as  sustained  by  higlier  authority  than  that  of 
the  pope,  appealed  to  the  next  general  council,  and 
forthwith  took  measures  to  exclude  papal  interference 
from  his  dominions. 

In  1534  by  the  oath  of  supremacy,  Henry  was  himself 
recognized  as  head  of  the  English  Church.  Still,  it  was  no 
part  of  his  design  to  follow  the  example  of  the  conti- 
nental reformers.  He  had  debarred  the  papal  autliority 
fi-oni  England;  but  was  not  disposed  to  tolerate  any 
change  in  religion.  Both  Protestants  and  Papalists  suf- 
fered at  liis  hands.  A  great  number  of  monastic  houses 
were  suppressed,  and  their  estates  transferred  to  tlie 
Crown.  But  the  national  hierarchy  was  retained,  with 
the  Romish  forms  of  worship,  and  the  Romish  doctrine. 
In  1539  an  act  was  passed  for  "  abolisliing  diversity  of 
(jpinion  in  religion  ";  and  a  list  of  six  articles,  compre- 
hending the  strong  points  of  Romanism,  was  published, 
which  all  Englishmen  were  to  be  compelled  to  accept. 
]S'othing  but  the  real  protestantism  widely  diffused 
among  his  clergy  and  people  rendei-ed  the  measures  of 
Henry  VIH.  a  reformation.  Providentially,  Cranmer, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  from  1533,  was  an  earnest 
reformer,  and,  at  the  same  time,  retained  the  king's 
favor. 

The  most  valuable  gain  for  the  cause  of  reformation 
secured  iu  that  reign  was  made  in  publishing  the  Scrip-  '7"" 
tures.      A  translation   of  the  New  Testament   directly  [9^'-'' 
from   the  Greek  into  the   English   by  William  Tyndale  ^tj'^  ^^   ^£2£ 
was  printed  iu  Flanders  in  1526,  and  the  Old  Testament    Ar,^'fJdiu<!^U. 
translated  from   the    Hebrew,    by   the  same    hand,  was 'j^     Q.-Xl  Ml 
printed  with  at  it  Hamburg  1532.  "  Three  years  later,  Tvn-    *v'^'''^       u^i 
dale  suffered  death  for  iieresy.     In  1535,  Miles  Cover-  ^^^^^/l^j^ 
dale  published  at  Zurich  that  edition  of  the  whole  Bible  ?-    *'^'*      ,    r 
which  was  the  first  allowed  in  England  by  royal  author-    '  <*  i   fin 

ity.     Iu  1536  an  injunction  was  issued  to  the  clergy  to  ttW 

provide  a  "  copy  of  the  Bil»le  iu  Latin  and  one  in  Eng-  (ri^'..  t<M<>u^ 
lish  and  lay  them  in  the  choir  of  every  parish  church  in  /t,r^  )ru4u 
the  realm,  for  every   man,  who  chose,  to  read  therein,     \^^^*rrJ~*^  w 

Cud  K^ur  ^  ^"^-'^  /^.^^j^-^^l     "^• 


and  directino;  that  nono  sliould  be  discouraged  from  read- 
ing, but  rather  exhorted  so  to  do." 

'^  Anotlier  edition  of  the  English  Bible  was  printed  on 
the  Continent  in  1537,  bearing  the  name  of  Thomas 
Matthew,  but  consisting  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament, 
and  the  Old  Testameat  of  Tyndale  and'  Coverdale, 
Archbishop  Cranmer,  wlio  took  an  active  part  in  pro- 
promoting  scriptural  knowledge^  among  the  peoi:)le, 
moved  in  Convocation  to  present  a  petition  to  the  king 
for  permission  to  prepare  a  new  translation.  Queen 
Anne  Boleyn  used  her  influence  with  the  king,  and  the 
/  -  /,^^i/^i^^  permission  was  granted.  Cranmer  immediately  assigned 
■f        '   '  I     .1  the  work  of  correcting  existing  translations  to  different 


,)K 


cholars,  each  one  a  separate  part,  requesting  them  to 


rf|  fUw,^    * -^   execute  their  respective  tasks,  and  return   them  to  him 

/jj,4  *//~<A'l'>M[ri)y  a  give;;   time.     The  new   version  was  brought  out  in 

0  \lL  ^^^^'  with  a  i)reface  b}' Cranmer,  and  is  commonly  called 

*^  '^9^'  Cranmer's  great  Bible.     In  the  same  year,  anothertr.ns- 

^^'In/    ^..lation  was  made  by  Eichard  Taverner,  and  published  in 

London.     Next  year  two  editions  of  the  English  Bible 

*.oc  i^'^  ^  ^^'  were  issued,  with  a  preface  by  Cranmer. 

(,"~?^vi-^^''k  ^        The  Komish  party  used  every  effort  to  obstruct  the 

/  progress  thus  made,  and  so  far  prevailed  witli  Parliament 

as  to  obtain   tlie  passing  of  an  act  forl)idding  tlie  use  of 

•  Tyndale's  version,  and  allowing  the  others  under  severe 

resti'ictions.       Notwithstanding,    tlie    translations    were 

bought  and  read  with  avidity  by  many  persons    of  all 

ranks;    and  especially  in  connection  with  the  revived 

study    of  the  original   languages,  thej'    had    a    material 

influence  in  the  universities,  '•  long  before  tlie  obstacles 

to  an  authorized  translation  were  overcome." 

A  kindred  work  for  the  reformation  was  done,  soon 
afterwards,  in  a  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms.  Thomas 
Sternhold,  moved  with  disgust  at  the  licentious  songs  of 
the  day,  like  Alarot,  in  France,  prepared  several  of  the 
Psalms  to  take  their  place.  He  versified  forty-one. 
John  Hopkins  added  fifty-eight,  and  the  rest  of  the  work 
was  completed  by  various  hands.  They  were  introduced 
into  the  service  of  the  church  gradually. 

Henry  VHI.  died  Jan.  28,  1547.  The  heir  of  the 
crown,  Edward  V"I.,  was  a  minor,  educated  in   the    Pro- 


testant  religion.  In  Iiis  brief  reio-ii,  from  1547  to  1553, 
was  the  best  part  of  the  English  refonnation  etfected.' 
The  system  of  doctrine  adopte'd  was  that  of  the  Reformed 
eluirches  on  the  continent.  A  similar  change  in  chnrch 
government  was  contemplated,  and  had  Edvvard  VI.  seen 
a  longer  life  it  would  probably  have  l.eeii  made.  But 
his  death,  was  followed  by  the  furious  Romanist  reaction 
under  Mary  ;  and  the  policy  of  Elizabeth  was  to  accept 
the  Reformation  and  restrain  it  to  the  stage  at  which 
Edward  left  it.  By  that  means  the  movement  was 
greatly  retarded  and  divided  within  itself.  In  its  history 
there  are  seven  distinct  periods,  of  which  three  arose 
out  of  that  internal  division. 

1.  The  first  opens  with  Wycliff  and  his  coadjutors, 
in_the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  from'  about 
1370;  and  may  be  counted  as  doing  the  preparatory 
work  until  1534. 

2.  The  second,  from  1534  to  1547,  during  which  the 
English  churcli  was  separate  from  Rome,  but  not 
reformed,  a  large  number,  if  not  tlie  majority  of  both 
clergy  and  people  hokling  reformed  views,  without  being 
free  to  profess  them.  ^ 

3.  The  third  is  the  brief,  but  momentous  reio-u  of 
Edward  VI,,  from  1547  to  1553. 

4.  The  fourth  is  that  of  the  Catholic  reaction,  in  the 
reigji  of  Alary,  from  1553  to  1558, 

5.  The  fifth  was  a  protracted  conflict  between  the 
party  which  aimed  at  the  simple  church  government  and 
worshi})  set  up  by  the  Reformed  on  the  continent,  and 
that  which  sustained  Elizabeth's  half-way  policy,  con- 
tinued through  all  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  James  I.  and 
Charles  I,  from  1559  to  1642. 

6.  The  sixth  from  1642  until  1660,  was  the  triumph 
of  the  Puritan  party.     And 

7.  The  seventh  was  that  of  thePrelatic  reaction,  from 
1660  until  1088  in  the  end  of  which  a  compromise  was 
established,  consisting  of  government  supi)ort  to  the 
stronger  party  and  toleration  to  the  weaker,  the  nearest 
approach  to  religious  freedom,  which  England  has  yet 
reached. 

Catholic  England  was  ecclesiastically  divided  into  the 
two  province.s  of  Canterbury  and  York  ;  the  provinces, 


I' 


into  tiioeeses,  and  these  into  parislies,  and  otiier  cures  of 
vjirioiis  denonunati(Mis,  eacli  diocese  was  governed  by  a 
bishop,  the  archbishops  of  York  and  Canterbnrj-  stood 
at  the  head  of  their  respecti\'e  provinces,  Canterbury 
was  the  primate  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  the  supremac^^ 
over  all  rested  in  the  liands  of  the  Pope.  It  was  the 
last  of  these  iiutiiorities  alone  which  was  changed  by  the 
schism  of  Henry  VIII 

Bishops   were   empowered   to   call   councils   of  their 
res[)ective  dioceses,  and  archbishops,  of  their  provinces. 
From    early    time    the   kings    adopted    the    practice    of 
requiring   the   archbishops    to   convoke   their   clergy    in 
meetings  connected  with  P.irliainent,  for  the  purpO'je   of 
voting  the  taxes  to  be  paid  by  the  clergy,  and  the  exercise 
of  other  tempoi-al  functions.     Tliese  were  called  convo- 
cations, of  which  there  was  one  for  either  province;  that 
of  Canterbury   being  the  superioi',  as   under  the   [u-esi- 
dency  of  the  Primate.     Having  also  the  right  of  exercis- 
</^    .    ing  spiritual   functions,  convocations  gradually  usurped 
the  place  of  purely  ecclesiastical  synods,  and  became  the 
ij'Y<-c?v  '^^^sole  provincial  synods  of  England,  meeting  at  the  same 
tit.^a^o\  time  with  Parliament.     Neither  was  this  altered   l)y  the 
Reformation. 

Under    Edward    VI.,    Convocation    and     Parliament 

i/'C^^    /v^  co-operated  in   reform   of  <loctrine  and  worship.     Early 

/  il^lA'^     ^"  ^'^'^'■'-  ''^^i©"?  curates  were  instructed  to  take  down  from 

^/  ^^li     their  churches  such  images  as  had  been  made   objects  of 

*^  /  V  worship.     And  the  keejdng  of  an  English  Bible  in  some 

^    j^tHa  ft^Cf.  J  convenient  i)art  of  the  church  for  the  people  to  read  was 

^^^  reinforced  and  the  restrictions  repealed.     All  persons  in 

the  lower  ranks  of  the  clergy  were  ordered  to  possess  the 

New  Testament,  in   both  Latin  and  English,   with    the 

paraphrase    of  Erasmus,  upon   which    they    were  to    be 

examined  by  the  bishops,  in  their  visitations  and  synods. 

They  were  also  ordered  to  read  portions  of  it  before  their 

congregations,  on  Sundays,  and  other  holy  days. 

Books  were  also  [lublished  by  Archbishop  Cranmer 

for  religious  instruction.      A  catechism  for  general   use, 

and  twelve  Homilies  for  aid  of  the  clergy  were  drawn 

!-(u<jt'^]^  by  him,  or  under  his  direction. 

/  '"'t  _    ^  general  visitation  of  the  kingdom,  by  commission- 

/  .  /   '''  '  '^^'^  appointed  by  the  cro.wn,  was  instituted,  for  the  pur-^,.,— 


[)Ose  (if  inquiring  into  doctrine  and  condnct  of  tlie  clergy,  *<-<-'^  ^  T^r 
and  of  furnisliing  instructions  for  \vorshi[»  and  tlni  regu- (^lU^^l^  (Jla-^^ 
lation  of  the  parishes.  ^  ^       Ou^C-Oni^J  ^, 

Parliatnent,  assembled  Nov.  4,  1547,  began  by  repeal-  Jt-(t^^kuS^L 
ing   all    statutes   against   heretics,  including   the  odious  7"^-"^ 

"  six  articles."  It  \'\  as  now  enacted  that  the  Mass  should 
•rive  place  to  the  Communion,  and  that  the  sacrament 
should  be  administered  to  all  communicants  under  both 
kinds.  The  remaining  monastic  houses  were  suppressed, 
and  their  revenues  put  into  the  king's  hands,  to  be 
expended  in  erecting  grammar  schools,  in  further  aug- 
menting the  universities,  and  in  making  better  provision 
for  the  i)Oor.  ^ 

Commissioners  appointed  to  draw  up  a  book  of  Coni-  f^i/^ 
mon  Prayer  assembled  at  Windsor,  May  9th,  iteT^The 
new  liturgy  was  presented  to  the  Convocation  w'nich  met 
in  November,  and,  having  been  agreed  to  by  that  body, 
was  l)rouglit  into  Parliament,  where  a  law  was  passed, 
Jan.  21st,  1549,  that  from  Whitsunday,  June  10th,  1549, 
"  all  divine  offices  should  be  [terformed  according  to  it." 

In  1551,  a  committee  was  api)ointed  to  reform  the 
system  of  ecclesiastical  laws,  under  which  the  Arch- 
bishop was  requested  to  prepare  a  book  of  articles,  for 
"  preserving  and  maintaining  peace  and  unity  of  doe- 
trine  in  the  church."  The  articles  of  religion  were 
accordingly  ))ublished  in  1553,  having  received  the 
approval  of  Convocation,  and  the  royal  assent.  They 
were  forty-two  in  number.  A  sliortcr  catechism,  con- 
taining the  "sum  of  christian  learning,"  was  issued  in 
Latin  and  English,  the  same  year  together  with  the 
articles.  The  body  of  ecclesiastical  laws  was  completed, 
but  not  soon  enough  to  receive  the  king's  sanction. 

A  revised  edition  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  authorized 
by  the  Parliament  of  1552,  which  also  declared  the  mar- 
riage of  the  clergy  to  be  legal. 

Alterations  were  made  in  the  ecclesiastical  vestments, 
which  some  proposed  to  reject  altogether. 

These  changes'  were  not  made  without  opposition. 
Bishops  Gardiner  of  Winchester,  and  Bonner  of  London 
resisted  with  most  obstinacy.  The  latter  submitted 
under  protest,  and  the  former  was  retained  in  prison.     In 


8 

some    parts    of  the    comiti-y    the    Koniaiiist    population 
expressed  their  discontent  hy  rising  in  rebellion,  wliicli 
had    to    ho    put    <lovvn    by    authority,    or   by   arms.      In 
Devonsliire    tlie    insurgents    demanded    "  tliat    the    six 
tirticles  should  be  restored,  that  the  Mass  should  be  said 
in  Latin,  that  the   host  should   be  elevated  and  adored, 
that   the   Scicrament  should   be   given    in   only  one  kind, 
that  images  should  be  set  up  in   churches,  that  souls  in 
Purgatory  should   be  prayed   for,  that  the    Bible  should 
be  called  in  and  prohibited,  and  that  the  new  service  book 
should  be  laid  aside,  and  the  old  religion  restored."     The 
weight  of  tlie  religious  opposition  may  however  be  over- 
estimated.     Because  it  was  everywhere    connected  with 
resistance  to  the   land  usurpation  of  tlie  country  nobles 
and  gentry:  and  certain  unwise  measures  of  the  King's 
council  in   matters   of  state  and  finance  became  compli- 
cated with  and  prejudiced  tlie  cause  of  the  Reformation. 
In   addition   to  all   that  was  done    by  the  Parliament 
and  Convocation    of  England,  it  was  designed   by  Cran- 
mer  to    have  a  s^nod  called  of  theologians  representing 
all  the  churches  of  the  Reformati(m,  with  a  view  lo  mutual 
su[»[)ort  and  luirmony  of  doctrine.     He  corresponded  on 
the  subject  with  both  Lutherans  and  Reformed.     But  ere 
the  plan  could  be  matured,  the  whole  work  of  reforma- 
tion was  suspended  in  England  by  the  death  of  the  king, 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1553/ 
^^/      "^   J   1^.      The  next  heir  "to  the  throne  was  King  Edward's  oldest 
7i lltVH^ufK  '^gigte,,  Mary,  daughter  of  Catherine  of  Aragon,  who  liad 
j^  Cctc^  <i-^<r*tcbeen  educated  in  strict  adherence  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 
iv  ^-/Viv  O^**'''?  ^^^'^  attempt  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  to  set  up  a 
f     ^'      /_/  rival  candidate,  in  the  person  of  Lady  Jane  Grev,  failed 
^^  H^  and  involved  the  principal  persons  concerned  with    it  m 

/^{       (cM.4jt^  ruin. 

f      '       /  Mary's  religion  gave  much  anxiety  to  the  reformers: 

"^        /    iIa^^^^   ^'*^    majority  of  the   nation  were   not  yet  fully  pre- 

!_  K^  ^y '^i^'-'pared  to  coincide  with   them.     The  people  of  England, 

^^fi-tc^ttt^!'^^  that  time   consisted  of  three  parties;  first  that  which 

*  '         advocated  the   right  of  the   Pope    to    full    ecclesiastical 

dominion,  with  all  that  it  implied — a  party  which    was 

very  small  ;  second,  a  moderate  reforming   party,  which 

rejected  the  Papacy,  dependency  upon   Rome,  and  the 


monastic  orders  but  preferred  the  old  forms  of  worship, 
of  belief,  and  the  national  priesthood;  it  also  included 
a  large  number  of  that  class  of  property-holders  who  had 
shared  in  the  contiscated  lands  of  the  monasteries;  and 
the  third  was  that  of  the  thoroughgoinp:  reformers.  The 
second  was  more  numerous  than  both  the  other  two,  and 
was  that  which  hailed  the  accession  of  Mary  with  rejoic- 
ing, in  the  hope  that  she  would  restore  the  state  of  things 
as  it  stood  in  the  latter  years  of  her  father.  It  was  also 
the  party,  which  when  disappointed  by  her  restoration 
of  the  Papal  supremacy,  persecution,  and  attempts  to 
restore  the  monasteries,  ultimately  revolted  against  her, 
and  gave  their  support  to  the  protestants. 

Mary  at  first  evinced  no  disposition  to  cruelty,  and 
the  persecuting  laws  had  been  rejjealed,  but  her  purpose 
to  sustain  the  extreme  papal  party  appeared  in  her  depos-         .  ^_ 

ing  the  reforming  bishops,  and  putting  strong  Roman- '^//'  ^ 
ists  in  their  room.  Gardiner  was  made  bishop  of  Win-  wV^/  /c 
Chester  and  chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  and  Bonner,  uSUaT.  o^rx^^  ^^ 
Bishop  of  London.  Ridley,  Coverdale  and  Hooper  ^a^  V-/^u^(^^ 
were  sent  to  prison,  where  Cranmer  soon  after  followed  ^^^v^^^^y^^JyTo^ 
them.     Many  others  were  ti-eated  in  the  same  manner,  ^I  ' 

and  a  proclamation  was  issued,  August  18,  1553,  by  6 
which  all  preachers  were  silenced  except  tliose  wlio  should 
receive  license  from  the  Queen,  by  whom  the  whole 
autliority  on  that  matter  was  transferred  to  Gardiner. 
Those  who  refused  to  comply  were  sent  to  prison. 
Many,  foreseeing  the  fate  which  awaited  them,  fled  to 
tlie  continent.  And  so  precipitately  was  the  change 
effected,  that  when  Parliament  met,  Oct.  5,  1558,  three 
months  after  the  death  of  King  Edward,  oul}'  two  prot- 
estant  bishops  appeared  in  their  places.  The  Queen 
communicated  to  the  Pope  her  recognition  of  his  supre- 
macy, and  her  kinsman,  Cardinal  Pole,  was  appointed 
legate  to  reconcile  the  kingdom  to  the  Roman  see.  But 
80  little  were  the  English  people  yet  prepared  for  such  a 
step,  that  it  was  thought  prudent  to  defer  it  for  more 
than  a  year. 

In  order  to  fortify  the  Romish  interest  both  in  Eng- 
land and  on  the  continent,  as  well  as  to  serve  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  marriage  was  by  him 
negotiated   between   his  son  Philip  and   the  Queen  of 


10 

Eiifijland.  It  was  solemnized  on  the  25tli  of  Jnlj, 
1554.  Philip  resided  in  England  about  fourteen  months, 
after  which  lie  went  into  the  Netherlands,  to  be  present 
at  his  father's  abdication,  and  to  receive  the  crown  of 
Spain  and  lier  dependencies  at  his  hands. 

On  the  arrival  of  Cardinal  Pole  Nov.  24,  1554,  the 
kingdom  was  formally  reconciled  to  the  Pope;  and 
regular  measures  were  taken  to  enforce  his  authority. 
Tlie  leader  in  that  progress  was  the  Queen,  but  lier  oracle 
and  instigator  was  Cardinal  Pole,  and  the  prime  agent 
in  procuring  the  action  of  Parliament  in  their  favor  was 
Bishop  Gardiner.  The  laws  of  Edward's  reign  touching 
religion,  and  the  ecclesiastical  acts  of  Henry  VIII.  were 
repealed,  and  by  the  beginning  of  January,  1555,  the 
legal  powers  of  persecution  for  religion's  sake  were  fully 
re-established.  That  end  was  not  attained  without  warm 
and  protracted  debate  and  the  opposition  of  a  strong 
minority,  and  on  two  points  ccmipliance  with  tlie  court 
was  persistently  withheld.  Those  were  the  alteration  of 
Henry's  will  touching  the  royal  succession,  whereby 
Elizabeth  would  have  been  cut  off,  ar.d  the  restitution 
of  the  abbey  lands. 

The  severest  penalties  for  iieresy  were  again  inflicted.  In 
February  1555,  John  Rogers,  ))rel)endary  of  St.  Paul's  was 
burned  at  the  stake,  in  Smitlitield,  for  receiving  thesacra- 
ment  according  to  the  liturgy  of  Edward  VI.  Five  days 
after.  Hooper,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  was  committed  to 
the  flames  in  the  city  of  Gloucester.  Then  followed  in 
rapid  succession  victim  after  victim,  among  whom  were 
Ridley,  formerly  Bishop  of  London,  Latimer,  Bishop  of 
Worcester,  Ferrars  Bishop  of  St.  Davids  and  others,  the 
most  conspicuous  in  the  church,  with  many  of  humbler 
rank.  These  executions  took  place  chiefly  at  Smithfield 
in  London,  but  also  at  Oxford,  Canterbury  and  else- 
where. Cranmerwas  retained  in  prison  until  March  21, 
1556,  when  he  was  burned  at  Oxford.  On  the  next  day. 
Cardinal  Pole  was  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
Gardiner  had  died  on  the  12th  of  November  preceding. 
From  the  execution  of  Rogers,  Feb.  4,  1555,  until  the 
last  victims  at  Canterbury  Nov.  10,  1558,  not  less  than 
two  hundred  and  seventy  persons  perished  in  the  flames. 


11 

And  adding  those  who  died  of  imprisonment,  torture  and 
other  injnvies,  the  nornber  reached  almost  four  luindred, 
wlio,  ii;  the  short  time  of  about  three  years  and  a  half, 
suffered  for  religion's  sake.  Bad  management  of 
the  government  in  '  other  respects,  and  failure  of 
the  national  arms  abroad  increased  the  general  dis- 
content. Several  insurrections  had  been  attempted, 
and  a  more  general  movement  seemed  on  tlie  point  of 
breaking  out,  as  appeared  froni  tlie  tlireatening  temper 
of  the  House  of  Commons  wliich  met  Nov.  5,  1558. 
Mary's  death  a  few  days  afterwards,  Nov.  17,  allayed  the 
ferment,  and  put  an  end  to  Papal  denomination  in  Eng- 
land. Sixteen  hours  later,  Cardinal  Pole,  the  chief 
instigator  of  the  persecution,  died  also.  The  last  vic- 
tims of  the  stake  had  suffered  at  Canterbury  only  seven 
days  before. 

The  accession  of  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Queen  Anne 
Boleyn,  filled  the  hearts  of  Protestants  and  anti-papal 
Catliolics  with  joy.  She  was  of  a  naturally  superior 
intellect,  well  educated,  and  now  five  and  twenty  years 
of  age.  Po]»e  Paul  IV.  took  offence  at  her  assumption 
of  roj'alty  without  his  consent.  Elizabeth  took  no  steps 
to  procure  it.  Her  first  royal  act  was  to  order  the  release 
of  all  persons  imprisoned  for  religion's  sake,  while  she 
also  restrained  the  impetuosity  of  too  hasty  reformers. 
All  preaching  was  suspended  until  the  meeting  of  parlia- 
ment. Only  the  church  service  and  reading  the  scrip- 
tures were  allowed.  No  alterations  were  to  be  made 
except  by  an  act  of  the  nation.  The  policy  of  Elizabeth, 
from  the  beginning,  was  to  restrain  the  Reformation  to 
the  stage  at  which  it  had  arrived  when  Edward  died;  at 
that  stage  to  constitute  it  the  Church  of  England,  and  to 
hold  catholics  in  check,  while  admitting  them  to  entire 
equality  of  rights  in  both  church  and  state.  It  was  not 
yet  presumed  that  any  save  extreme  Papalists  would  be 
dissenters.  Her  right  to  the  crown  she  rested  upon  her 
fathei's  will.  All  the  Bishops  she  received  graciously 
except  Bonner  of  London,  whose  brutality  had  made  him 
disreputably  conspicuous  in  the  persecution.  For  her 
council  she  selected  from  both  Protestants  and  national 
Catholics.  The  former  alone  were  retained  permanently. 
Among  them  were  Sir  William  Cecil,  afterwards  Lord 


12 

Burleigh,  secretary  of  state,  and  Nicholas  Bacon,  keeper 
of  the  great  seal.  The  panalists  withdrew,  or  were 
removed.  By  Cecil  the  present  safety  and  quiet  of  the 
realm  were  secured  hy  the  wisest  and  most  expeditions 
measures. 

The  Queen  was  crowned  on  the  15th  of  Januar}^  1559. 
Parliament  met  ten  days  after.  The  royal  supremacy 
was  restored,  and  papal  dominion  excluded  from  the 
kingdom.  Supremacy  was  explained,  as  not  giving 
power  to  conduct  divine  service  in  the  church,  but  simply 
''  under  God  the  sovereignty  and  rule  over  all  manner 
of  persons  within  the  realm  of  England  both  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  temporal,  so  as  no  foreign  power  should  have 
superiority-  over  them  ;"  and  ai)peal  should  not  be  carried 
from   any    English    cou,rt    to    that   of  Rome.     MatthcAv 


,  * ,     ;  „,.Parker,  an  advanced  Protestant,  was  made  Archbishop  of 

U  ?JA  (  ^       bishops  was   revived;  also   those  passed   in  the  reign  of 


''■^  V-^*'/  •  /Canterbury.     The  law  of  Henry  VIII.  for  the  election  of 


Edward  VI.  for  the  reformation  of  religion.  The  monastic 
houses  founded,  or  restored  by  Mary  were  suppressed, 
and  their  property  annexed  to  the  crow!i.  Most  of  the 
monks  returned  to  secular  life,  but  the  nuns  withdrew  to 
catholic  countries. 

The  Queen  was  empowered  to  appoint  a  commission 
consisting  of  either  churchmen  or  laymen  for  the  settle- 
,^j,,^^f4^^^r^t*',  <'/  rnent  of  ecclesiastical   causes.      From    that,    called    the 
f»l^.  *■         \  High   Commission    Court,    there  was  to   be   no  appeal. 
Heresy   was    to  be  adjudged  by    the  plain  and  express 
^*  ^^'  words  of  Scripture,  of  the  first  four  general  Councils,  and 

as  might  thereafter  be  determined  by  Parliament  and 
Convocation.  By  the  act  of  uniformity  all  church  ser- 
vice was  to  be  conducted  according  to  the  second  Liturgy 
of  Edward  VI.,  with  a  few  alterations  then  introduced, 
the  alterations  being  mostly  backward  to  the  re-adoption 
of  what  had  been  rejected  as  Romish,  in  forms  of  worship 
and  sacerdotal  habits. 

Convocation,  Avhich  met  at  the  same  time  with  Parlia- 
ment, and  was  still  predominantly  Catholic,  drew  up  and 
presented  to  the  Lord  Keeper   six  articles  designed  to 
■>  .  maintain  the  state  of  things  as  constituted  in  the  reign  of 
Mary.    A  conference  was  appointed  between  the  Reformed 


13 

and  Catholic  divines,  eight  on  each  side.  It  issued  in 
only  a  conviction  that  the  two  were  irreconcilable. 
When  the  session  of  Parliament  liad  closed,  the  oath  of 
supremacy  was  tendered  to  all  the  bishops,  and  refused 
by  all  except  the  bishop  of  Llandaff.  The  parish  clergy 
were  of  a  different  mind,  and  with  but  few  exceptions 
joined  the  Reformation.  Of  9,400  beneficed  clergymen 
under  Mary's  reign  only  192  refused  the  oath  of  suprem- 
acy, and  of  these  only  80  were  rectors  of  churches.  The 
rest  were  bishops  ,  deans,  archdeacons,  and  other  digni- 
taries. No  severity  was  imposed  upon  any  of  tliem, 
except  three,  Bonner  of  London  with  his  partners  in 
cruelty.  White  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  AVatson  of 
Lincoln.  Bonner  was  imprisoned  for  life,  the  other  two 
imprisoned  for  a  time,  tlien  released,  a  pension  was 
assigned  them,  upon  which  they  withdrew  from  the 
country.     JSText  convocation  was  protestant. 

A  church  visitation,  like  that  of  Edward  VI.,  was 
appointed.  The  instructions  on  this  occasion  were 
specially  addressed  to  the  order  of  public  worship  and 
the  style  of  church  music,  enjoining  "  that  it  be  simple 
and  plain.-' 

Much  desire  was  expressed  on  the  part  of  a  great 
number  to  do  awa\"  with  the  clerical  vestments,  and  in 
the  universities  tliey  were  actually  abandoned  by  many. 

Archbishop  Parker  found  some  diiRculty  in  filing 
the  vacant  sees,  from  the  fact  that  the  most  competent 
clergy  had  arrived  at  views  of  Reformation  too  far 
advanced  for  the  Anglican  church.  Such  was  really  the 
state  of  his  own,  and  he  had  accepted  episcopal  office 
only  in  compliance  witli  the  royal  command. 

A  short  profession  of  faith  was  drawn  up  consisting 
of  eleven  articles  setting  forth  clearl}"  the  peculiai-  attitude  c 

of  the    Anglican    Church.     Also    a    new  translation  of  /y^^^  -  ^-^''^^ 
Bible,  made  by  certain  English  and  Scottish  refugees  in  ^  f     vj^^j,^^, 
^Jji'Geneva,  was  printed  in  1562.     Doctrinal   controversy  d^^    /^,-vtv^*^ 
^f  between  Catholic  and  Protestants  was  determined  in  itsy^-^^^^-^t^''''*'^ 
/    character   chiefly    by    that    carried   on   between   Bishop    ffVtV  ■'^^     •' 

Jewel,  and  John  Harding  one  of  the  Romish  theologians    '  .  ''      , 
^y- Lou  vain. 

"^         Convocation  of  1563  assembled  specially  for  the  settle- 
ment of  doctrine  and  discipline.     The  basis  adopted  was 


14 

that  of  the  Forty-two  Articles — of  these   four  were  now 

omitted,  and  some  of  the  rest  altered  with  a  bearing  to 

ji   more  complete   reform.     The  first  book  of  Homilies 

had  been  reprinted  in  1560;   the  second  which  had  also 

been  prepared  in  whole,  or  in  part,  before  tlie  death  of 

Edward,  was   now    printed    for    the  first   time    (1563). 

Some  years  afterwards,  the  Articles  of  Religion    were 

.yJ^A    again    revised,    another    article,    the    XXIXth,  added, 

^f  ^     ^.  making  in  all  Thirty-nine,  and  thus  were  ratified  by  con- 

.  .,.  ■<  ''»   '-^^  '■'  ■  vocation.  May  11,  1571.     A  defence  of  the  English  church 

'■J((x^^\fi  f  '   vvas    prepared    by    Bishop   Jewel.     Being  designed   for 

theologians  generally  it  was  written  in  Latin,  and  with 

the  sanction  of  Convocation  was  published  in  1563. 

Already  the  Puritan  element  was  strong  in  the  Eng- 
lish Church.  When  the  subject  of  rites  and  ceremonies 
came  to  be  ti-eated  by  tlie  same  Convocation,  several 
papers  were  introduced  proposing  a  more  thorough 
change.  Many  of  the  members  were  disposed  to  go 
the  length  of  excluding  all  sacerdotal  vestments,  organs, 
saint's  days,  la^-  baptism,  and  the  obligation  of  kneeling 
at  the  Eucharist.  To  those  who  thus  advocated  a  more 
complete  reformation  the  name  Puritan  was  in  course 
of  time  generally  applied. 

A  new  revision  of  the  Bible  vvas  brouglit  out  in 
1568.  It  is  called  "  The  Bishop's  Bible,"  as  having  been 
prepared  chietiy  by  the  English  Bishops  under  tlie  super- 
vision of  Archbisiiop  Parker.  For  forty  years  it  held  the 
place  of  authority  in  the  public  service  of  tlie  English 
Church,  while  the  Genevan  Bible  was  used  in  Scotland 
and  generally -by  the  Puritans  of  England  in  private. 

So  far,  all  varieties  of  opinion,  from  Romanist  to 
Puritan,  were  comprehended  within  the  pale  of  the  one 
National  Ciiurch.  But  the  extremes  were  soon  to  drop 
off,  and  tlie  forcible  means  employed  to  retain  theui 
accelerated  the  separation.  The  breach  was  first  made 
with  the  more  advanced  Puritans.  In  church  service 
many  catholic  forms  were  still  enforced,  the  hierarchy 
was  unaltered  except  in  as  faras  disconnected  with  Rome, 
and  some  of  the  Romish  vestments  were  still  canonical. 
In  all  these  respects,  a  number  of  the  clerg_y  desired  and 
expected  a  further  reform.     Many  had,   of  their    own 


/)  / 


15 

freedom  disused  tlie  vestments,  when  the  hiw  was  passed 
which  enforced  the  wearing  of  them.  A  matter  of 
previously  little  moment  now  involved  a  question  of 
christian  pi-inciple.  In  January  1565,  certain  canons 
were  issued  by  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  uniformity  of  "doctrine  and  preach- 
ing, administration  of  prayer  and  sacraments,  certain 
orders  in  ecclesiastical  polity,  outward  apparel  of  per- 
sons ecclesiastical,  and  promises  to  be  made  by  persons 
entering  upon  anj-  ecclesiastical  otKce."  '^ 

By  one  of  those  canons  all  licenses  to  j)reach  granted 
before  March  1,  1564,  wore  declared  void,  and  those  who 
were  thought  qualified   for  the  ofKce  of  preaching  were 
to  be  admitted  again  by  a  new  license,  and   ihat  was  not 
granted   except    under   a  promise    of  conformity  to   the 
(iresses    and   ceremonies.     Many   <if  the    best   ministers 
were  thereby  turned  out  oH  their  phices,  and  many  con- 
gregations   left    destitute.     Among    the    displaced    was 
Miles  Coverdale.     For  a  time  he  continued  to  preach  in 
private   liouses.     His   exam])le  was  fohowed   by  several 
other   ministers,  whose  services  were  attended    by  con- 
.  siderable    numbers    ot    their    respective    congregations. 
^^  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  seeing  no  hope  from  the 
,>>  leniency  of  the  government,  they  resolved  to  break  off 
entirely  their  connection  with  the  national  establishment, 


^and  organize  themselves  as  congregations  on  a  Presb}'-  ^..^ 
^  terian  model.  This  took  place  in  1566.  Government  '[ 
V^ attempted  to  crush  the  disr^enters.  Tliey  continued  to  '^  ,-  ,  u-t-^^ 
^ncrease  notwithstanding,  and  four  years  later,  Nov.  20,  vui^^^A-^H^^  ^ 
5fl572,  at  Wandsworth,  in  tlie  neighborhood  of  London,  y^  y^Sj/jL. 
&^  organized  their  congregations  into  a  presbytery.  i/-#^j  Zy^,, 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1568,  a  Catholic  insurrection  ^>*i.'<-»-<^-ii^  ' 
occurred  with  the  view  of  putting  Mary  of  Scotland  on 
the  throne  of  England.  The  papal  excommunication  of 
Elizabeth  followed  soon  after,  1569.  A  more  strongly 
mai'ked  distinction  between  Catholic  and  Protestant  was 
the  eftect,  and  Catholics  could  no  longer  attend  the  ser- 
vices of  a  church  whicli  recognized  an  excommunicated 
liead.  That  act  of  the  Pope  made  his  adherents  thence- 
forward dissenters  in  England.  In  the  same  year,  a 
Romish  College  for  Englishmen  and  for  operation  upon 


England  was  established  at  Doiiay,  in  the  ISTetherlands, 
under  [jatronage  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain. 

Instead  of  niaking  the  Queen  more  indulgent  to  her 
loyal    protestant    suVyects,    these    events    urged    her    to 
greater  stringency  in  carrying  out  the  law  of  uniformity. 
1^  ^ur/vCVw-At  that  very  date,  Bridvvell  and  other  prisons  were  full  of 
IdET^CjguX^  Puritans."  All  her  subjects  were  ordered  to  attend  service 
"         [       •  ^     and  commune  in  the  established  church.     In  Parliament 
QC>iM.Uoic*.'^l   Iq-ji^  hx\  eflbrt  was  made  by  the  commons  for  relief  of 
c*c'^  ^"-^^y^'  the  Puritans,  but  was  suppressed  by  interference  of  royal 
'  "  ^  A*   ^'^  authority.     By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  Puritans 
. "   Li^^  were  still  in  connection  with  the  established  church,  and 
I'Z'  seeking  its  further  reformation.      About  1569  they  were 
.  041  ^^-^^  ^    strengthened  by  the  accession  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Cart- 
~^  rt^'ift'.-  Wright,  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Cam- 
.  bridge,  who  with  great  learning  and  eloquence  unfolded 

C'^'  in  his  lectures  the  errors  of  the  established  church,  and 

advocated  their  removal.  When  challenged  for  non-con- 
formity, he  oflered  to  hold  a  public  disputation  on  the 
points  in  question.  That  was  declined.  But  he  was 
forbidden  to  continue  his  lectures,  and  soon  after,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  deprived  of 
his  lellowship  by  the  authorities  of  the  university  and 
expelled. 

The    Puritan    party  in    the   church    objected   to    the 

y    tft^r  hierarchy    and    certain    evils    connected    with    it;     to 

,  ,  r   i    i    the    law  which   confined    public    worship  to   prescribed 

♦<«Jl.  Vvt/i^W  |-^j,^g .    ^Q    various    observances  retained    from     Rom- 

» C^<< ''^^'^   "^ish    practice    but    without     sanction     from     Scripture, 

/J        'J^  \  and   to  the   use   of  clerical    vestments.     They  held  that 

^^^  7  .  ^J^Scripture  is  the  only  standard  of  religion,  and  that  every 

KjTi^Uf   ^K''«'/'man  has  a  right  to  read  and  judge  of  it  for  himself. 

^H  i    fi  S(jLoS(       Archbishop  Parker  died  May  17,  1576.     He  was  suc- 

A/.  ,   -    ^  ceeded    by    Grindal,  who    insisting   upon    carrying   the 

■"       ,    1^^       improvement    and  efficiency  of  his  clergy   beyond   the 

ihjJti^^f^^l  r  measure  assigned  by  the  Queen,  was  in  1577  suspended 

.-.,f    ^    ^    from  office.      The    primacy    remained    virtually    vacant 

''     '    '  , until  his  death  in  1583.     Whitgift  was  then  put  into  it, 

f    y<'^'«'''-ancl  holding  firmly  to  the  Queen's    policy  of  uniformity, 

H^4u.^~t^  ^^''  retained  it  through  all  the  rest  of  her  reign. 

(/ CU4*  <>   r«>        Notwithstanding  the  severity  with  which  they  were 

/  tfuJ^  'f^  Vi  treated,  the  Puritans  continued  to  increase  in   numbers. 


17 

and  every  effort  to  draw  the  reins  of  uniformity  tigliter 
upon  the  church  drove  more  of  them  out  of  it.  Many 
of  the  established  ministers  took  refuge  in  association's 
for  mutual  improvementwhich  were  called  "  Prophecy- 
ings  of  the  clergy,"  They  soon  proved,  like  other 
opportunities  of  free  exftression  in  England,  in  those 
days,  seminaries  of  Puritan  views.  The  Archbishop 
received  instructions  from  the  Queen  to  sujtpress  them. 

Among  the  exiles   from   the  established  church  was 
Robert  Brown,  a  preacher  of  some  popular  power,  who 
collected  a   congregation    on  principles  of  his  own.     It 
was   broken    up,  and   he  with    several  of  his  friends  and    ^ 
followers  went  to  Holland,  where  at  Middleburg  in  Zeal-  yQ^  ,'  ^"C/ 
and,  they  formed  the  first  congregation  of  Independents,  '.^  /  ,\? — /j 
called  in   the  first  instance  Brownists,     In  1589  Brown  ^^     v*^y  ' 
returned  to  England   and   accepted  a   rectorship  in  the  ^-^-  '^:t21^ 
establishment.  j^^'-i'Xi^  k^ 

Shortly  before  the  death  of  Elizabetli,  another  separate  j^  ^  sMJ- 
congregation  was  formed  under  better  auspices,  and  ,p  J  v  J^ 
which  soon  afterward  found  a  wiser  leader  in  John  ^^^'^  (7 
Robinson.  Persecution  in  England  constrained  them  also  f-'v-cc^uvO-  f 
to  seek  refuge  in  Holland.  Their  number  increased,  and  cCw^^  cvcsot/vu 
under  the  prudent  advice  uf  Mr.  Robinson  their  church  ^^^l^y^au)  /60 
polity  was  gradually  formed  towards  that  type  which  has    /-  l  •  V> 

since  been  called  congregational.  Residence  in  a  country  7^^!^^,  . 
where  they  wero  cut  off'  from  the  |)eople  by  the  barrier  6U^w>-a^^  •^^' 
of  a  foreign  language,  together  with  other  objections,  led  Co  >r  'S-irtPc 
them  in  a  few  years  "Jo  seek  for  some  abode  more  favor-  PuLiCCU^eu*. 
able  to  future  prosperity  and  spiritual  freedom.  That  //^^f<,  e.<j»/<.c 
project  issued  in  1620  in  the  celebrated  emigration  of  the  priSitt.  'StA^ 
Puritan  Pilgrims  to  America.  IZ-i—^-^^^ 

In  England,  the  Puritans  were  still,  for  the  most  part/V  j^y — .  \9^ 
members  of  the  established  church,  and  differed  con-  Ck^^  jr"''- 
siderably  in  opinion,  but  all  looking  more  or  less  to  the  j  ?^*i>  f*^^ 
model  of  the  Reformed  churciies  on  the  continent.  aL'(^«-<.V  V^ 

In  the  early  part  of  her  reign,  Elizabeth  was  lenient    f^    *\A'tcJA 
to  Catholics;   but   after   they  had  stirred   up  discontent    C^*^*"  .  v/At.,^ 
and  rebellion  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  Pope  had  issued   V  ^^^"-^^ 
excommunication  against  her,  and  plots  had  been  formed 
against  her  life,  severity  to  them  on  her  part  became  self- 
defence. 


18 

Amidst  a  long  continued  turmoil  of  conflicting  inter- 
ests political,  militarj',  religions  and  personal,  in  whieli 
the  safety  of  England  was  secured  mainly  by  a  judicious 
balancing  of  the  jealousies  of  Prance  and  Spain,  the 
church  of  England  i-eceived  the  characteristic  features  of 
its  worship  and  polity.  Its  doctrine  had  been  deter- 
mined, as  far  as  reformed,  in  the  reign  of  Edward.  Its 
peculiarities  among  protestants  are  its  Royal  Supremacy, 
its  episcopal  order  of  ministers,  its  recognition  of  the 
church's  legislative  power  in  spiritual  things,  the  enforc- 
ing of  Sacerdotal  vestments,  and  its  peculiar  liturgy. 

"The  death  of  Elizid)eth  occurred  on  the  24th  of 
March  1603,  and  with  it  the  dynasty  of  the  house  of 
Tudor.  The  nearest  heir  to  tlie  throne  of  England  was 
the  King  of  Scots,  only  child  of  the  unfortunate  Mary 
Stuart. 

REFORMATIO!^  IN  SCOTLAND. 

The  history  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  consists 
of  four  distinct  periods  ;  first,  the  preliminary  period 
until  the  martyrdom  of  Patrick  Hamilton  in  1528  ; 
second  from  1528  until  the  meeting  of  the  first  Assemblv 
of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Scotland  Dec.  20,  1560"; 
thirdly  from  that  event  to  the  date  of  the  National  Cove- 
nant 1638,  and  fourth  from  1638  to  the  adoption  of  the 
works  of  the  Westminister  Assembly  in  1647.  Subse- 
quent endurance  of  oppression,  and  deliverance  from 
it  were  changes  not  i)roperly  to  be  counted  as  belonging 
to  the  Reformation  from  Romanism. 

1.  What  Staupitz  was  in  Saxony,  Wyttenbach  in 
Switzerland,  and  John  Wessel  in  Holland,  such  in  Scot- 
land was  John  Major,  Professor  of  Philosophy  and 
Theology  in  St.  Andrews.  Major  was  born  in  1469, 
studied  at  Oxford,  Cambridge  and  Paris,  and  having 
held  the  professorship  now  mentioned,  and  subsequently 
the  oflice  of  Provost  of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews, 
died  in  15J0.  Among  other  things  he  taught  that  the 
authority  of  princes  was  derived  from  the  people  and 
that  a  general  council  is  superior  to  a  Pope;  he  denied 
the  temporal  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  that  Papal 
excommunication  had  any  force;  he  censured  the  vices 


19 

of  the  hierarchy  and  of  the  Papal  Court,  and  advised  tlie 
reduction  of  monasteries. 

It  was  at  St.  Andrews,  while  John  Major  was  in  his 
hest  days,  that  George  Buchanan,  Patrick  Hamilton, 
Henry  i3alnavis  and  John  Knox  were  fellow  students,  in 
the  years  1524,  1525  and  1526,  at  the  same  time  that  Sir 
David  Lindsay,  only  a  few  3ears  their  senior,  was  resid- 
ing upon  his  hereditary  estates,  in  the  neighborhood. 
Lindsay  was  a  layman,  and  a  courtier,  but  together  with 
his  fashionable  accomplishments  unrted  earnest  moral 
and  religious  purpose,  and  employed  his  popularity  as  a 
poet  with  great  effect  in  the  exposure  of  prevailing  error 
and  iniquity,  and  promoting  Scriptural  knowledge.  He 
was  born  in  1490,  and  died  in  1557. 

Balnavis  was  also  a  layman,  who  in  a  career  of  emi-  /'^um^  /cTOi.'  : 
nent  legal  and  political  success,  aided  much  in  the  pro-  o^  h Ot^rj- tTK. 
gress  of  the  Reformation.  QrOi<^''^^J^ 

The  most  important  service  rendered  to  the  cause  by  ^t-'*^* »  ^""'^ 
Buchanan  was  in  the  iield  of  education,  and  literature, ^^'^^j^<=*i^'"^-C^^ 
and  most  of  all,  perhaps,  as  tutor  of  the  regent  Murray  ^^'  W^^i-S^ 
and  of  King  James.  (>5tj^  X^7^., < iirC /    %J''^v,^\^^ 

Patrick  Hamilton  was  a  youth  of  noole  birth, ^wJaose  ^sVtr  K 
education,  conducted  at  St.  Andrews,  was  further  prose-  /^  ' 'rf)  •  •  *. 
cuted  at  Wittenberg  and  Marburg.  He  was  the  first  to  '^  ^Z-  \jt!''*~^ 
preach  Protestant  doctrine  in  Scotland.  Arrested  by  '^f\^J~^'\ 
Beaton.,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  he  was  tried  for  ,  ^  a  >r- 
heresy  and  burned  at  the  stake,  Feb.  28,  1528,  when   he  Yi'^^^cTS^v 


had  reached  only  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his  age.     That 


iboT^  |5~^-" 


startling  event  gave  publicity  to  the  cause.     Knowledge  ^^^ 
of  the  truth  spread  tast.     the  hierarchy  in  their  alarm  V^^'-'T  77 ^^^Sj 
became  more  cruel  ;  between  1530  and  1540,  many  pious  ^^^^'^^  ^ 

people  were  i)ut  to  death  or  driven  into  exile.     The  effect        ^~j.nJ^^ 
was  the  contrary  of  that  intended,  stim.ulating  inquiry,  ^      y         i^ 
and  creating  hatred  of  the  persecutors.  l'^^,'^'^  -vC^ 

John  Knox,  to  whom  the  Scottish  Reformation  owes  ^ 
more  than  to  any  other,  was  born  in  1505.  He  entered 
the  University  of  St.  Andrews  in  1524  at  the  same  time 
with  Buchanan,  under  the  same  instructors,  and  in  the 
same  college  of  St.  Salvador.  Both  early  excelled  in  the 
scholastic  learning  of  the  course,  and  early  became  dis- 
satisfied with  it,   and  "  overleaped  the  boundaries  pre- 


\L(Mr''.  :'^ 


20 

scribed  for  them  by  their  more  timid  guides."  For  some 
years  after  he  became  master  of  arts,  Knox  continued 
"to  teach  pliilosophy  in  the  University.  In  1530,  or 
shortly  before,  he  was  ordtuned  priest,  but  did  not  preach, 
preferring  to  remain  in  his  office  of  teacliing.  Mean- 
while ,his  studies  led  him  to  the  early  fathers,  among 
whom  he  was  particularly  attracted  by  Jerome  and 
Augustine,  and  by  them  was  led  to  the  Holy  Scriptures 
in  the  original  tongues  ;  but  not  until  1542  does  it  appear 
that  he  professed  himself  on  the  side  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, He  then  left  St.  Andrews,  and  retired  to  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  kingdom,  where  he  found  protection, 
with  two  wealthy  gentlemem  who  employed  him  to 
educate  their  children.  In  1^%Q  he  attached  himself  to 
the  preaching  of  George  Wishart,  who  had  just  returned 
from  England  and  the  continent  richly  laden  with  learn- 
ing, and  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  and  pos- 
sessed of  fervent  piety,  a  most  persuasive  eloquence,  and 
unflinching  courage  in  the  cause  of  truth.  In  1546, 
jL,  Wishart  was  arrested  at  the  instance  of  Cardinal  Beaton, 
tried  for  heresy,  and  condemned  to  the  flames.  The 
sentence  was  executed  on  the  following  day,  Mai-ch  1,  1546. 
Retribution  also  followed  fast.  The  Cardinal  was  beyond 
the  reach  of  law.  Certain  i)ersons,  too  rashly  following 
the  dictates  of  natural  revenge,  seized  the  castle  of  St. 
Andrews,  where  he  resided,  and  put  him  to  death,  Ma^eh 
29,  1546. 

Persecution  was  now  quickened  in  its  turn.  Knox 
with  several  others  sought  protection  with  the  conspira- 
tors in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  in  April,  1547.  It  was 
while  there  that,  at  the  call  of  the  garrison  and  residents 
and  urged  by  the  reformed  preacher  John  Rough,  he  tirst 
felt  constrained  to  undertake  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
when  he  was  over  forty  years  of  age.  By  French  forces 
the  castle  was  reduced,  July  31,  the  beseiged  were  carried 
to  France,  and  held  as  prisoners  in  various  places.  Knox 
with  others  was  sent  to  the  galleys,  and  there  treated  with 
all  the  indignities  oft'ered  to  heretics.  He  was  liberated 
in  1549,  and  immediately  repaired  to  England,  where  he 
was  employed  in  the  reformation  under  Edward  VI.,  and 
assigned  to  preach  at  Berwick.     At  the  accession  of  Mary 


21 

of  England  lie  retnrned  to  the  continent,  and  remained 
several  years,  enjoying  the  friendshij)  of  Calvin  and  other 
reformers,  and  aiding  in  that  translation  of  the  Bible 
called  the  Genevan.  In  1555  he  appeared  in  Scotland, 
hnt  left  it  next  year.  His  final  i-etiirn  was  in  May,  1559. 
It  was  followed  immediately  by  the  events  which  over- 
threw the  Roman  Catholic,  and  established  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Scotland. 

It  was  not  among  the  liigher  clergy  of  Scotland  that 
the  Reformation  found  its  supporters,  but  among  scholars, 
and  the  laity  generally,  both  nobles  and  commoners.  In 
England  the  narrative  begins  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  tlie  ecclesiastics  highest  in  place  about 
him  ;  in  Scotland  it  begins  with  youth  in  the  university, 
and  is  continued  in  the  lives  of  scholars,  and  of  a  few  , 
priests  who  felt  called  to  preach  the  gospel. 

The  doctrine  of  Patrick  Hamilton  was  Lutheran,  but 
as  soon  as  the  Reformed  creed  was  introduced,  it  met 
with   universal  favor  among  the  Protestants  of  Scotland. 

Oil  the  Rcmiish  side,  the  principal  champion  was  the 
Primate,  James  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  upon 
whose  death  in  1539,  the  same  eminence  was  assumed  b}' 
his  nephew,  David  Beaton,  who,  also  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  Cardinal,  was,  for 
the  burning  of  George  Wishart  and  other  acts  of  cruelty, 
put  to  death  in  1546. 

King  James  IV.  of  Scotland,  in  1503,  married  Mar- 
garet daughter  of  Henry  VII.  of  England.  Ten  years  H  ft,^,,^^  vm 
afterwards,  he  was  slain  at  Flodden,  when  his  son,  James  fkicv  '^>*''^^ 
v.,  was  only  two  yeai-s  old.  Thus  was  the  government,  ^N^ttwU-'fTv-^ , 
at  the  opening  of  the  Reformation  in  the  hands  of  a  cu^cw^>V.^ 
regency.  In  the  year  in  which  Patrick  Hamilton  suf-  C/viJt^  ttr>.,tu-t, 
fered,  the  young  king,  at  the  age  of  17,  escaped  from  (^  0.;  ^ -.'•i  "^^^ 
restraint  and  assumed  the  reins  himself.  He  had  little 
favor  for  the  hierarchy,  but   never  was  in  condition  to  _       , 

resist  it,  and  was  sometimes  constrained  to  the  execution  J^^l^o^-u-J^  I 
of  its  judgments.  In  1538,  he  married  Mary  of  Guise,  (j_jj^^^  ^)'fxo^<^ 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Loraine,  head  of  the  extreme  j^c.i«e;jr tc«^^x«^' 
Catholic  party  in  France.  James  V.  died  in  1542.  His  ^^  |cL{r>^'-H' 
daughter  Mary,  heir  of  the  throne,  was  only  a  week  old.  i^i^.rX  '^tHU^ 
James  Hamilton,  earl  of  Arran,  and  kinsman  of  Patrick    "' 


Hamilton  was  made  reireut.  An  act  of  Parliament  tliat 
same  year  made  it  lawful  for  all  to  read  tlie  Scriptures  in 
their  native  tongue.  But  in  a  short  time  the  Regent 
ahjured  his  reformation  principles.  At  the  end  of  twelves 
years  he  resigned,  and  Mary  of  Guise,  the  Queen  Mother, 
assumed  the  regency. 

Queen  Mary,  at  the  age  of  six  years,  was  taken  to 
France  to  be  educated  among  her  mother's  kindred.  At 
sixteen  she  was  married  to  Francis,  heir  of  the  throne  of 
France,  to  which  he  succeeded  next  year,  (1559).  (3n 
the  ground  of  Mary's  descent  from  Henry  VII.,  the 
\Cl  V  It!  y^^^^^S  King  and  Queen  of  France  and  Scotland  assumed 
-dV.A^Cwb'^'  also  the  royal  title  of  England,  and  were  sustained  by 
the  Catholics. 

The  Queen  Regent  of  Scotland  died  June  lOth,  1560. 
Her  daughter  now  Queen  of  France   remained  with  her 
husband  in  that  count: y.i    About  six  months  later,  Dec. 
4,  1560,  Francis  11.  died,  and  the  union  of  the  crowns 
of  France  and  Scotland  came  to  an  end.     Mary  did    not 
arrive  in   Scotland  until  the  19th    of  August  next.     In 
the  interval,  Parliament,  August  24,  1560,  had  abolished 
the  Papal  jurisdiction  in  Scotland,  and  left  the  Reformed 
Church  free  to  determine  upon  its  own  constitution  and 
confession    of  doctrine.       The    first    Assembly'    of    the 
Reformed  Church  of  Scotland  met,  accordingly,  on  the 
20th  of  December,  that  year. 
CO  /j.J-<,'/      ^Isrgy  who  joined   tlie  Reformation   were  few.     In 
-   xp    the  lirst  Assembly  among  forty-one  members,  only  six 
)uetc^  i^/v^'^^'-'wera   ministers,  and  they  were   half  of  all   in  the  king- 
^.  /^t^.^f^QA  ^^^'     Oiie  of  the  most   urgent  duties  of  the  Assembly 
*"'  V        ^*77  ^"^^^  ^^  make  provision  for  worship  and  religious  instruc- 
ptiS^^^c.  /Ji^tion  in  the  parishes.     Temporary  offices  had  to  be  added 
to  those  of  a  permanent  nature.     Of  the  latter  class  their 
Book  of  Discipline  recognized   the  Minister,  or  Pastor, 
the  Teacher,  and  the  Ruling  Elder,  and  the  Deacon.     To 
these,  for  the  time  then   being,  were  added  superinten- 
dents, and  leaders.     The  former  were  not  appointed  for 
all  the  kingdom,  but  only  where  need  required,  to  travel 
each  through  the   district  assigned   him,  preaching  and 
supervising  the  churches  and  schools,  and  inspecting  the 
conduct  of  the  parish  ministers  who  joined  them.     Read- 


fZf^tZK 


23 

ers  were  laymen  of  piety  and  gDocl  common  education, 
who  were  directed  simply  to  read  the  Scriptures  to  the 
people,  in  places  where  preachino^  could  not  be  yet  pro- 
vided. As  tliey  approved  themselves  capable,  they  were 
encouraged  to  offer  remarks  upon  what  they  read,  and 
were  then  called  exhorters.  If  they  continued  to  improve, 
they  mio;ht  be  admitted  to  the  ministry.  Parliament 
sanctioned  the  refo[ined  doctrines,  offices  and  worshi[), 
but  refused  assent  to  the  system  of  discipline. 

The  second  Assembly  met  in  Edinbur2:h,  May  27, 
1561.  Queen  Mary  did  not  arrive  in  Scotland  until 
August  of  that  year.  She  came  with  the  purpose  to  undo 
all  that  had  been  etiected  by  the  Reformation.  It  was 
not  however  a  clergy,  nor  politicians,  whom  she  had  to 
encounter,  but  the  multitude  of  the  best,  and  best  edu- 
cated of  her  people.  A  highly  accomplished  woman,  of 
unscrupulous  artifice,  her  reign  utterl}-  failed  in  its  great 
aim,  as  it  was  also  most  utdiappy  for  herself,  from  its 
inherent  perversity  and  folly.  General  Assemblies  were 
held  regularly  twice  a  year  throughout  her  reign,  and 
continued  the  improvement  of  discipline  and  authority. 

During  all  that  reign,  as  well  as  the  preceding  two 
years,  and  the  succeeding  four,  the  church  of  Scotland 
was  indebted  chiefly  to  the  wisdom,  energy  and  integrity 
of  John  Knox. 

In  the  reign  of  Mary  the  revenues,  which  had  belonged 
to  the  Romish  establishment,  were  divided  by  Parliament 
into  three  equal  parts,  two  of  which  were  given  to  sup- 
port the  ejected  Romish  clergy,  as  long  as  they  lived,  while 
one-third  was  to  be  divided  equally  between  the  Queen 
and  the  Protestant  clergy. 

Mary's  misgovernment  and  [jersonal  follies  gave 
occasion  to  an  organized  resistance,  which  she  encoun- 
tered in  arms  only  to  be  defeated.  She  fled  to  England 
and  tO(^k  refuge  with  her  cousin  Elizabeth,  who  held  her 
a  prisoner  all  the  rest  of  her  days.  The  kingdom,  in  the 
minority  oi'  her  son,  was  governed  by  regents  ;  first  by 
her  haif-brother,  the  earl  of  Murray,  a  pupil  of  Buchanan, 
and.one  of  the  best  of  the  reformed  nobility,  about  two 
years  and  a  half  from  her  abdication  in  1567 ;  then  by 
the  Earl  of  Lennox,  paternal  grandfather  of  the  young 


king,  from  Janpary,  1570  until  Septenil)er,  1571,  then  b}- 
the^Earl  of  Mar  until  October,  1572,  followed  by  Doug- 
las, Earl  of  Morton,  until  March.  1^8,  when  the  king, 
though  only  twelve  years  of  age  assumed  the  government 
himself.  Thus,  the  Scottish  monarchy,  in  tlie  time  of 
the  Reformation,  was  feeble  and  of  little  influence  in  the 
course  of  religious  affairs,  and  that  little  of  no  benefit. 

As  the  retired  Popish  Bishops  jjassed  away,  it  became 
necessary  more  permanently  to  disi)0se  of  their  revenues. 
Certain  of  the  nobility,  with  the  Earl  of  Morton  at  their 
head,  Vv^ished  to  appropriate  most  of  the  amount  to  their 
own  use.  A  plan  was  devised  whereby  upon  the  death 
of  a  Catholic  bishof),  some  submissive  hireling  should 
be  put  into  his  place  to  keep  up  the  form  of  the  office, 
draw  the  revenue  of  the  see,  and  pay  over  the  princii)al 
part  of  it  to  the  nobleman,  his  patron,  who  should  pro- 
tect him  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  remainder.  The  method, 
which  was  called  by  the  country  people  Talchan,  suc- 
ceeded only  as  long  as  enforced  by  the  Earl  of  Morton. 
The  last  words  of  John  Knox  to  the  General  Assembly 
were  levelled  against  it.  That  great  leader  of  the  Scot- 
tish Reformation  died  on  the  24th  of  November,  1572. 

In  Julj^  1574,  Andrew  Melville  returned  from  the 
continent,  and  forthwith  connected  himself  with  the 
party  which  condemned  the  new  style  of  bishops,  and 
labored  consistentl}'  to  have  every  trace  of  diottesan 
episcopacy  removed  from  the  church.  By  the  Assembly 
of  June  1578  action  was  taken  against  Prelac}'  in  any 
shape,  and  it  was  enacted  that  no  new  bishops  should  be 
made.  By  the  Assembly  of  1580,  Pi'elacy  wascondemnd  as 
unscriptural,  and  those  wlio  held  such  "pretended  office  " 
were  charged  to  demit  it  immediately.  By  the  Assem- 
bly of  April,  1581,  a  more  regular  distribution  was  made 
of  the  church  into  Parishes  and  Presbyteries.  The  six 
hundred  churches  were  classified  in  fifty  Presbyteries, 
and  the  Presbyteries  into  seventeen  Diocies :  and  the 
^^a'tjiuU  "Book  of  Policie,"  or  of  disciple  was  revised  and  sanc- 
tioned. Also  a  confession  of  faith  was  issued  b}'  the 
Assembly,  subscribed  by  the  king  and  published  by  royal 
Proclamation. 

Attempts  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  constrain 
the  church  into  compliance  with  its  policy  agitated  the 


25 

country  for  a  few  years,  in  which  tlie  meetings  of  Assem- 
bly were  suspended  from  Oct.,  1583  until  May,  1586. 

In  1589,  the  king  went  abroad,  to  be  married  to  tlte 
daughter  of  the  King  of  Denmark.  Upon  his  return  he 
manifested  the  most  exalted  devotion  to  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Scotland  ;  and  in  the  same  spirit  continued 
two  or  three  years.  In  1592,  Parliament  ratified  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  the  national 
establishment,  and  appointed  General  Assemblies  to  be 
held  once  everj'  ^-ear,  or  oftener,  if  occasion  should 
require. 

But  King  James  could  not  surrender  his  ])urpose  of 
turning  the  church  into  an  instrument  for  etiecting  his 
own  plans  of  government.  He  began  by  attempts  to 
create  an  aristocratic  ambition  among  the  ministers,  and 
in  1598  ventured  to  propose  a  superior  ecclesiastical  rank, 
by  giving  some  of  them  a  place  in  Parliament,  with  the 
title  of  bishop.  Although  the  Assembly  opposed  the 
measure,  persons  were  found  to  accept  the  distinction. 
Parliament  sustained  the  King.  A  controversy  arose 
between  him  and  the  Assembly,  in  the  course  of  which 
he.  was  Sustained  by  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  England. 
He  used  his  augmented  power  to  suppress  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  The  same  course  was 
pursued  by  his  successor.  From  1603  until  1638  there  was 
not  one  free  meeting  of  Assemblj-;  and  those  who 
deferided  the  cause  were  subjected  to  punishment,  Mel- 
ville was  committed  to  the  tower  of  London,  and  libe- 
rated only  to  be  driven  into  exile.  The  ministry  of  the 
church  was  to  be  constituted  a  prelatical  hierarchy  for 
political  purposes,  to  subserve  a  despotic  system  of  king- 
craft, and  doctrines  not  conformable  to  that  system  were 
to  be  blotted  out. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  ENGLAND    AND    SCOTLAND  UNDER  THE 
UNION    OF    THE    CROWNS. 

James  VI.  of  Scotland  succeeded  Elizabeth  on 
the  throne  of  England  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1603,  and  was  crowned  at  Westminister,  July  25th  of 
that  year.  As  respects  the  churches,  he  abandoned  the 
Presbyterian,  and  threw  himself  entirely  into  the  interest 


26 

of  the  Anglican  Episcopal,  thereby  disappointing  also 
both  Puritans  and  Catholics.  With  the  increased  wealth 
and  places  of  office  and  emolnment,  now  at  his  disposal, 
he  secured  the  compliance  of  some  of  the  most  powerful 
nobility  who  had  formerly  opposed  his  measures,  and 
some  others,  who  received  nothing,  were  equally  com- 
pliant from  expectation,  Scotland  was  thus,  for  two 
successive  reigns,  held  under  oppression  of  a  nonresi- 
dent monarch,  the  former  secure  from  their  number,  and 
the  latter  by  absence,  and  supported  by  the  resources  of 
the  stronger  country.  The  king  also  stretching  his  roynl 
authority  beyond  the  bounds  of  previous  example,  erected 
a  court  of  High  Commission  for  Scotland  similar  to  that 
which  had  been  constituted  for  England,  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth. 

The  Anglican  church  was  still  dix'ided  into  the  two 
parties  of  Prelatic  and  Puritan,  the  latter  favoring  more 
or  less  a  Presbyterian  form  of  chui'ch  government,  and 
the  former,  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  duty  of 
implicit  obedience  on  the  part  of  their  subjects.  The 
Prelatists  accordingly  enjoyed  the  full  favor  of  King 
James;  and  to  their  principles  all  other  parties  were  to 
be  compelled  to  conform.  His  purpose  in  respct  to  the 
Puritans  was  coarsely  but  plainly  declared  at  a  conference 
which  he  held  at  Hampton  Court,  Jan.  14,  1604. 

The  bitter  disappoinment  of  the  Catholics  found 
expression  in  the  formation  of  a  plot  which  certainly  could 
not  have  met  the  approbation  of  anything  like  a  majority 
of  their  number.  In  the  second  year  after  James'  arrival 
in  England,  1605,  Parliament  was  to  meet  on  the  5th  of 
Nov.,  the  King  would  be  present  to  open  the  session,  and 
would  be  accompanied,  as  was  expected,  by  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  At  that  juncture  it  was  designed  to  blow  up  the 
Parliament  House  with  gunpowder,  many  barrels  of 
which  were  secretly  deposited  in  the  cellars  beneath.  The 
[»lot  was  discovered  in  time  to  be  defeated. 

Although  suffering  much  oppression,  the  Puritans 
withheld  from  disloyalty,  and  the  greater  part  of  them 
remained  in  the  established  church.  Their  cause  was 
sustained  by  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  a  work 
sanctioned  by  the  king,  but  certainly  not  with  a  view  to 


27 

that  end.     A  new  impulse  to  Biblical  studies  was  created 
by  the  particular  method  in  which  that  work  was  con- 
ducted, being  distributed  in  the  hands  of  a  great  number 
of  learned  men,  at  the  principal  seats  of  learning,  w^iile 
appeals  were  published  to  all  the  learned  throughout  the 
kingdom  to  aid   in  it,  by  contributing  any  suggestions       ^ 
which  occurred  to  them.     The  plan  was  proposed  by  Dr.  -^  (xct)ruA4  i^^O 
Reynolds,  in  the  conference  at  Hampton  Court,  in  1604,   5u,,>vl-^C.  \^^'- 
and  the  new  translation  was  published  b^'  Robert  Barker,    "^ 
London    in    1611.     It  was  followed   by  a  group   of  tlie 
greatest  divines  that  the  English  Church  has    ever  seen. 
Hitherto  Puritans  and  Prelalists  had  not  differed  much 
on    essential    doctrine  ;     but    that    little    was    gradually 
increasing.     Within  the  reign  of  James,  Arminianisni, 
introduced    from     Holland,    found     most    favor    among 
the  Prelansts,   while   the   Puritans  adhered   severely  to  ■       .   , 

Calvinism.  fk  Ul^^f'y^0 

The  tyranny  of  James,  and  especially  his  interference  (l^ixu^J'T^^''^'*^ 
with  religious  freedom,  alienated  multitudes  of  his  peo-  jilt-^T^xi^C  ^ 
pie  ;  and  when  he  died  in  1625,  his  dominions  were  in  an  hf^iy^  VB^\ 
agitated  and  dissatisfied  condition.  ■  .     ,     •     f    /C, 

Charles  I.  pursued   the   same   policy,   but   with   less   ^  ^Cm^(^ ^  I 


caution.     Laboring  to  crush  nonconformity,  he  provoked  //c/f^<^^'-- 
into  open  resistance  both  the  Puritans,  now  a  powerful    a  -yv;^   /iC^^ 
party  in  the  Anglican   Church,  and  the  people  of  Scot-    r>/  -7- 
land.     Under  the  advice  of  Laud,  Bishop  of  London,  and,   ^^'^^<^- 
from  1683,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  position  of  the 
Prelatic  party  was  carried  back  towards  Romanism  and 
into  Arminian  doctrine.     In  opposition  to  the  strictness 
with  which   the   Puritans   kept   the  Lord's  day,  a  book  ..  r 

was  issued   under  authority'  of  roj-al   proclamation,  in  ^^^r/c  ^/^^li'h- 
which  ministers  of  the  gospel  were  enjoined  to  exhort  '  ' 

their  parishioners  to  enjoy  themselves  on  that  day  in 
dancing,  archery,  and  various  other  amusements.  The 
narrowest  censorship  was  exercised  over  the  press,  and 
even  over  the  private  expression  of  opinion,  with  penal- 
ties painful  and  degrading.  In  the  service  of  such  a 
despotism,  the  Court  of  High  Commission  became  justly 
odious  as  an  instrument  of  cruelty  and  injustice.  With 
the  royalist  part}'  the  doctrine  of  divine  right  of  kings 
and  implicit  obedience  on  the  part  of  subjects  reached 


^i^.l  fyf^  ^-7^^-^-  -^  ^ 


28 

the  last  degree  of  audacity.  Dr.  Roger  Manwaring  in  a 
sernion  preached  in  1623,  defended  the  ground  that  "the 
King  is  not  bound  to  observe  the  hiws  of  the  realm  con- 
cerning the  subject's  rights  and  liberties;  but  his  royal 
word  and  command,  in  imposing  loans  and  taxes  without 
consent  of  Parliament,  doth  oblige  the  subject's  con- 
science upon  pain  of  eternal  damnation."  Charles  was 
pleased  with  the   sermon.     It  was  printed.     Parliament 

€  condemned  it,  and  ordered  its  author  to  prison,  declaring 

'  ^'  him  disabled  from  holding  any  office  in  the  church  or 
state.  When  Parliament  was  dissolved,  the  king  released 
him,  and  promoted  him  to  a  benefice  of  great  value. 
Through  a  religious  controversy,  the  nation  was  divided 
on  great  questions  of  politics  and  finance,  affecting  the 
most  important  constitutional  rights  of  Parliament ;  and 
the  heads  of  the  opposing  parties  were  the  King  and  the 
representatives  of  the  people.  The  King  acted  upon  his 
principles,  and  ruled  without  a  Parliament  for  eleven 
years. 

CHURCH    OF    SCOTLAND    UNDER    CHARLES    I. 

In  Scotland,  every  means  of  crushing  out  the  national 
Reformed  Church,  and  substituting  the  Prelacy,  designed 
by  James,  were  carried  forward  by  his  successor.  Pres- 
byterians who  accepted  the  King's  Parliamentary  honors 
^  were  appointed  to  Episcopal  sees,  and  an  archbishop  was 
/^^—  /,j^/7l^gonce  more  in  St.  Andrews  ;  but  so  far  with  moderation 
,  '  .-/  ^  in  respect  to  the  insignia  or  badges  of  office,  and  the 
itittci-'v-  -/t^  'forms  of  worship.  Application  to  the  King  presenting 
the  real  sentiments  of  the  Scottish  people  was  made  in 
vain.  He  followed  only  the  advice  of  men  of  his  own 
party.  Meanwhile  a  remarkable  religious  revival  per- 
vaded Scotland,  and  continued  several  years. 

In  1634,  the  Kingvisited  his  native  country  to  obtain 
the  crown,  and  hold  a  Scottish  Parliament.  By  those 
about  him  he  was  persuaded  that  all  was  now  ready  for 
carrying  out  completely  the  change  in  the  ecclesiastical 
establisliment.  A  book  of  canons  was  accordingly  drawn 
up  according  to  the  views  of  Laud,  and  revised  by  him. 
With  the  royal  sanction  it  was  printed  in  Aberdeen, 
1635.     ISText  year  a  liturgy  was  framed  on  the  model  of 


29 

tbe  English   Praj-er   Book,  and    revised  bj  Laud,   and 
without  regard  to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  a    proclama- 
tion, issued  in  Dee.  1636,  called  upon  all  faithful  subjects 
to  ccnform  to  it.     July  23, 1637  was  appointed  for  begin- 
ning the  new  service  in  the  new  sacerdotal  vestments  by     f         / 
the   new  ecclesiastical    dignitaries   in    full    array.     The  OLH"^      *"" i  n/; 
attempt  was  met  by  a  resistance  so  extensive  and  pro-   ^./. ;  .^  ,,. 
nounced  that  the  government  shrunk  from  further  prose-     "    ■ 
cution  of  their  scheme  for  the  time.     Military  force  was 
lacking   to  the  King,  and   the  terms  on  which  he  stood 
with  his  English  subjects  were  such  that  the  means  for 
suppressing  resistance  in  Scotland  were  not  easily  to  be 
obtained.     He  sent  a   commissioner  to   take  such  mea- 
sures as  might  be  necessary  to  allay  the  excitement. 

Meanwhile,  the  people  of  Scotland  virtually  governed 
themselves,  and  leaders  were  found  prepared  for  the 
exigency.  Alexander  Henderson,  a  minister,  and  John-^^j^  7/uv-'^ 
ston  of  VVarriston,  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  others  organ- 
ized committees  for  conducting  the  public  business  of 
the  occasion  with  regularity f^  As  a  bond  of  national 
union  civil  and  religious  they  drew  up  a  covenant,  con- 
sisting of  the  acts  of  Parliament  ratifying  the  constitu- 
of  the  Reformed   Church  of  Scotland,  and  binding  then        ,  ,    / 

signers  to  its  maintenance  and  defence.  It  was  first  read  j/i/^Xct^^-^ 
and  signed  in  a  vast  assembl}'  in  and  around  the  Grey  ' 
friars  Church,  Edinburgli,  Feb.  28,  1688,  and  afterwards 
over  the  country,  north  and  south.  It  was  hailed  with 
joyful  welcome  wherever  it  appeared  ;  but,  of  course,  not 
by  all  persons.  Those  who  had  submitted  to  the  royal 
plan  of  government,  and  of  religion,  either  disapproved 
of  it,  or  were  indifferent.  The  sraallness  of  their  num- 
ber is  demonstrated  by  the  consistent  current  of  events. 
The  covenant  was  national,  and  recognized  Christ  as 
head  of  the  church,  but  obligated  also  "  to  the  defence 
of  our  dread  sovereign  the  King's  Majesty,  his  person 
and  authority,  in  the  defence  and  preservation  of  the 
foresaid  true  religion,  liberties,  and  laws  of  the  king- 
dom." 

A  general  assembly  met  at  Glasgow  in  ITovember  of 
that  year.  Alexander  Henderson  was  moderator.  The 
order  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Scotland  was  restored, 


30 

Prelacy  was  abolislied  ;  and  the  Kirk  Sessions,  Presb}-- 
tei'ies,  Synods,  and  General  Assemblies  restored  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  their  constitutional  privileges  and 
powers. 

Charles  entered  Scotland  witli  an  army.  The  Cove- 
nanters prepared  to  defend  themselves.  A  treaty  was 
signed  in  camp  in  which  the  King  promised  that  a  free 
Assembly  should  be  called  forthwith,  and  a  Parliament 
convened  to  determine  finally  all  the  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  aflairs  of  Scotland.  The  Assembly  met.  It  renewed 
the  Covenant,  which  was  signed  by  the  King's  Commis- 
sioner; and  confirmed  the  act  of  the  Assenibly  of  Glas- 
gow, in  declaring  Prelacy  unlawful  in  that  church.  Par- 
liament coincided  with  the  Assembly;  and  the  royal 
commissioner  dissatisfied,  prorogued  it,  and  hastened  to 
liis  master. 

The  King  now  determined  to  crush  the  covenanters. 
An  English  Parliament  was  called  to  provide  the  means. 
.  Parliament  insisted  upon  a  redress  of  English  grievances 
first.  The  King  dismissed  them,  and  proceeded  by  means 
of  loans  and  arbitrary  exactions,  with  some  voluntary 
contributions  of  friends,  to  raise  an  army,  which  he 
equipped  to  the  number  of  21,000  men.  Again  he 
marched  towards  Scotland.  The  Covenanters  met  and 
defeated  him  at  Newburn.  Constrained  by  the  difficul- 
ties he  had  himself  evoked,  the  disaffection  of  his  people 
and  the  necessities  of  his  exchequer,  and  dreading  to 
meet  the  representatives  of  the  English  people,  he  pro- 
posed to  a  convention  of  the  nobles  to  vote  him  supplies. 
But  they,  although  ready,  many  of  them,  to  contribute 
of  their  own  means,  could  not"  put  their  hands  to  the 
public  revenue.  Reduced  to  the  last  necessity,  he  called 
another  English  Parliament,  which  met  on  the  third  of 
November,  1640. 

REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 

When  Henry  Vrn.  broke  off"  his  relations  with  Rome, 
he  had  to  establish  his  supremacy  not  only  in  England, 
already  largely  anti-papal,  but  also  in  strongly  "papal 
Ireland.  The  means  employed  were  not  well  calculated 
to  convert  errorists,  or  to  conciliate  good  will    They  com- 

f  (/Quit,  a  (trv.       ^  /^f^      Ou.^  >Uo^uh^    ^/f^'  ^ 


31 

menced  by  the  consecration  of  an  anti-papal  archbisliop 
of  Dublin,  in  March,  1535,  and  a  demand  that  the  roj'-al 
supremacy  should  be  acknwledged  by  the  authorities  civil 
and  ecclesiastical.  It  was  vigorously  resisted  by  the 
Romanists,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  Primate  of 
Ireland,  was  leader  of  the  opposition.  In  a  Parliament, 
called  next  year,  the  royalist  party  proved  strong  enough 
to  secure  a  vote,  and  declared  all  who  maintained  tlie 
Papal  supremacy  guilty  of  high  treason.  Some  of  the 
religious  houses  were  immediately  "  dissolved,  and  their 
revenues  vested  in  tlie  crown  "  Counter  instructions 
were  received  from  Rome,  and  disobedience  of  the  royal 
(jommand  instigated  from  the  highest  quarter.  Instead 
of  carrying  scriptural  instruction  to  the  Irish  people, 
and  adapting  it  to  their  capacity,  the  English  Church 
went  into  Ireland  with  new  orders  of  lords  bishops  and 
archbishops,  thrust  into  the  place  of  those  already  exist- 
ing, with  royal  authority  to  enforce  itself,  and  to  inflict 
the  penalties  of  noncompliance.  Instead  of  learning  the 
language  of  the  people,  to  reach  their  understandings, 
it  ordered  the  preaching  to  be  done  in  English,  and  for- 
bad its  promotion  to  all  who  could  not  comply  with  that 
rule.  Irishmen,  without  instruction  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  reformation,  saw  the  property  of  the  church  wherein 
the}'  had  been  born,  seized  and  turned  to  the  use  of  one, 
to  which  they  were  strangers,  and  which  appeared  among 
them  as  the  heretical  faith  of  conquerors,  whom  they 
hated.  The  cause  of  Reformation  in  Ireland  was 
seriously  prejudiced,  by  interference  of  government,  from 
the  beginning,  and  made  little  progress,  except  by  immi- 
gration from  England.  In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the 
Anglican  church  was  set  up  as  the  establishment  of  Ire- 
land, but  continued  exotic.  The  whole  island  was  coii- 
quered,  but  very  far  from  being  reduced  to  order.  Most 
of  it  lay  in  a  lamentable  state  of  poverty,  desolation  and 
barbarism.  The  English  settlements  on  the  eastern  coast 
were  continually  harrassed  by  attacks  from  the  natives. 
In  the  province  of  Ulster  the  disorder  and  desolation 
reached  the  greatest  extreme.  There  Shan  O'jSTeill,  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  aimed  at  establishing  himself  as 
king  of  Ireland,  by  plundering  and  laying  waste  the  ter- 


32 

ritory  of  neighborino;  chiefs.     His  career  was  stopped  by 
assassination.     Early  in  the  reign  of  James,  a  cons})iracy 
to  expel  1  the  English  was  formed  chiefly  by  the  northern 
nobles,  who  applied  to  France  and  Spain  for  aid.     It  was 
discovered  before  the  lime  appointed  for  its  execution. 
l^iXl-  •=  Zc'<       Its  leaders,  the  Earls  of  Tyrone  and  Tyrconnel,  fled  and 
left  their  vast  estates  at  the  mercy  of  the  king.     A  second 
attempt  resulted  in  a   similar  way,  and  the  death  of  its 
chief,  O'Dogherty,  threw  his  estates  also  into  the  hands 
of  the  government.     The  O'Neill,  the  largest  land  owner 
in  both  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim,  saved  about  one- 
third  of  his  estates,  by  yielding  the  rest  to  persons  who 
*N  interceded  for  him  with  the  king.     Thus  a  large  extent 
-.        l</v^'"^i^of  territory,   almost  desolated  by 'reciprocal  plunder  of 
10  V'X'^'^'Ats  former  lords,  was  annexed  to  the  possessions  of  the 
crown. 

With  this  begins  a  new  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Protestant  church  in  Ireland.  The  king  rescdved  to 
settle  his  waste  lands  in  Ulster  with  loyal  men  from  Eng- 
land and  Scotland.  Colonization  commenced  in  and 
about  the  year  1610,  and  progressed  rapidly.  English 
Episcopalians  and  non-conforniists  and  Scottish  Presby- 
terians lived  together  harmoniously,  under  the  same 
church  regulations,  drawn  up  for  them  by  Archbishop 
Usher,  which  presented  also  a  liberal  side '^to  Catholics. 
That  state  of  tranquility  continued  until  the  commence- 
ment of  interference  by  Archbishop  Laud.  Charles 
I.  having  obtained  a  large  amount  of  money  fronj 
Ireland,  on  the  promise  of  certain  favors  called  Graces, 
to  both  Catholics  and  Presbyterians,  failed  to  keep  his 
royal  promise.  To  quell  the  discontent,  thereby  created, 
he  sent  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  as  his  deputy,  who 
arrived  in  1683.  Wentworth  with  much  ability  and 
unrelenting  severity  carried  out  the  purposes  of  his  mas- 
ter, exalting  "  the  royal  prerogative  on  the  ruin  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  people,"  and  was  rewarded 
with  a  place  among  the  Peerage,  as  Earl  of  Stratford. 
The  state  of  the  Irish  church  was  also  commended  to  his 
special  care  by  Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whose 
purpose  was  to  force  Ireland  as  well  as  England  and 
Scotland  into  one  ecclesiastical  formula,  consistently  with 


33 

the  views  of  the  king.  Of  tlie  spiritual  despotism  then 
instituted,  Strafford  mfde  himself  the  efficient  agent. 
His  administration  repressed  resistance,  during  its  own 
time  ;  but  sowed  the  seeds  of  a  terrible  retribution. 

When  Charles  I,,  having  aroused  the  spirit  of  his 
Scottish  subjects,  was  constrained  to  convoke  an  English 
Parliament,  the  state  of  Ireland  more  alarming  than  that 
of  Scotland,  was  found  to  call  for  immediate  attention. 
Strafford  was  then  in  England,  having  brought  over 
reinforcements  for  the  royal  army,  in  war  with  the  Cove- 
nanters. He  would  have  returned  to  his  vice-royalty  ; 
but  the  king  needed  his  counsel  and  retained  him.  Par- 
liament took  up  his  case,  immediately  after  securing  the 
permanence  of  its  own  existence.  lie  was  impeached 
by  the  Commons  before  the  House  of  Lords;  and  after 
trial  on  charge  of  high  treason,  was  attainted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  death.  He  was  beheaded.  May  12,  1641.  His 
deputy  in  office  died  soon  after,  and  the  government  of 
Ireland  was  put  into  the  hands  of  two  Lords  Justices 
under  authority  of  Parliament.  Efforts  were  made  to 
redress  the  grievances  of  all  parties,  and  the  king  was 
constrained  to  confirm  his  own  royal  graces,  which  he 
had  previously  offered,  and  withheld.  But  the  Catholic 
Irish,  brooding  over  wrongs  of  earlier  times,  and  exaspera- 
ted by  late  acts  of  regal  })ertid3',and  administrative  injus- 
tice, had  already  plotted  a  rebellion,  which  was  now  pushed 
forward,  by  the  force  of  various  motives,  all  centering 
in  the  one  purpose,  to  exterminate  the  Protestant  popu- 
lation and  government.  Tlie  plot  failed  in  Dublin  ;  but 
took  effect  with  terrible  cruelty  and  indescribable  scenes 
of  slaughter  in  the  province  of  Ulster.  It  broke  out  in 
October,  1641.  And  in  less  than  six  months  the  Prot- 
estant churches  of  that  part  of  the  kingdom  were  com- 
pletely extinguished. 

In  the  course  of  next  Summer,  (1642),  the  forces  of 
rebellion  were  defeated  by  an  army  brought  from  Scot- 
land. The  soldiers  of  that  army,  being  Presbyterians, 
in  accordance  with  their  own  wishes  were  constituted  a 
church,  the  elders  being  elected  and  ordained  from  their 
officers.  After  that  example,  w^hen  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  began  to  return  from   Scotland,  to  which  they 


34 

had  fled,  and  the  Scottish  settlers  once  more  to  occupy 
their  homes,  their  churches  were  organized,  not  on  the 
phan  of  compromise  with  Episcopacy,  but  as  [)nrely 
Presbyterian. 

From  that  date  events  occurred  which,  for  several 
years,  united  the  cause  of  the  churches  in  Ireland  with 
those  of  England  and  Scotland,  interesting  all  alike  in 
certain  great  political  and  military  movements,  and  ren- 
dering o\ie  narrative,  in  the  main,  common  to  all  three. 

THE    LONG    PARLIAMENT. 

The  new  Parliament,  which  Charles  I.  under  con- 
straint of  irresistible  necessity  had  called,  met  at  West 
minister  on  the  third  of  November,  1640.  It  consisted 
of  men  who  were  members  of  the  Established  Churcli, 
and  well  affected  towards  the  government,  zealaus  for 
reformed  doctrine  and  worship,  and  t'ov  the  cc^nstitutional 
rights  of  Englishmen.  As  a  legislative  body,itw^as  per- 
haps never  surpassed  in  wisdom,  gravity,  patriotism  and 
christian  information.  Other  Parliaments,  in  the  course 
of  that  reign,  had  been  called,  and  failing  to  comply  with 
the  king's  demands,  had  been  summarily  dismissed  ; 
that  which  now  met  resolved  to  continue  its  sessions  until 
redress  of  national  grievances  should  be  secured  ;  and  to 
that  subject  insisted  upon  turning  attentioii,  before  the 
q'uestion  of  subsidies  could  be  entertained.  On  the  same 
day  on  vtdiich  the  act  of  attainder  was  passed  against 
Strafford,  "  The  king  gave  his  assent  to  a  law  whereby 
he  bound  himself  not  to  adjourn,  prorogue,  or  dissolve 
the  existing  Parliament  without  its  own  consent."  That 
Parliament  recognized  the  cause  of  the  Scots,  and  of  the 
Irish  as  identical  with  their  own. 

In  the  beginning,  so  obvious  and  glaring  were  the 
evils  demanding  attention,  that  little  division  of  opinion 
was  evoked.  Oidy  at  the  opening  of  the  second  term, 
in  the  latter  part  of  1641,  did  the  existence  of  two  par- 
ties, conservative  and  reformatory,  make  its  appearance, 
a  distinction,  which  exists  in  British  politics  to  this  hour. 

Matters  of  church  and  state  were  so  intimately  united, 
and  usurpations  upon  both  so  numerous  and  flagrant, 
that   one    of    the    earjist    acts  of  the  Long  Parliament 


35 

was  necessarily  to  appoint  a  committee  of  religion.  The 
Star  Chamber  and  the  Court  of  High  Commission  were 
abolished,  and  the  principal  advisors  of  the  king  were 
impeached  on  charge  of  treason.  Finch,  the  Lord 
Keeper,  and  Windbank,  the  Secretary  of  State,  fled  to 
the  Continent,  Stratford  was  tried,  attainted  and  executed, 
Land,  the  Primate,  was  consigned  to  prison.  His  trial, 
July,  1644,  was  followed  by  attainder  in  November  of 
tliat  year,  and  liis  execution  in  January  following. 

In  Feb.,  1642  the  spiritual  Lords  were  excluded  from 
their  place  in  Parliament,  and  from  secular  offices.  The 
Lords  temporal  continued  to  cooperate  with  the  Com- 
mons. 

The  king  becoming  impressed  with  a  conviction  that 
Parliament  intended  to  hedge  him  round  with  restric- 
tions thought  it  prudent  to  come  to  peace  with  his  Scot- 
tisii  subjects.  During  the  recess  of  Parliament  in 
the  autumn  of  1641,  he  visited  Scotland,  and  consented 
to  give  up  his  plans  for  tlie  church,  and  even  sanctioned 
an  act  declaring  Episcopacy  contrary  to  the  word  of  God. 

Petitions  were  presented  to  Parliament  by  the  people 
and  clergy  of  London,  and  by  the  Puritan  clergy  in  gen- 
oral,  praying  for  removal  of  the  grievances  of  the  church. 
In  Seiitember,  1642,  an  act  was  passed,  when^by  after 
the  fifth  of  ISTovember  next  year,  the  Episcopal  ceased  to 
be  the  established  church  of  England. 

THE    ASSEMBLY    AT    WESTMINSTER. 

In  view  of  that  change,  an  Assembly  of  121  of  the/tr^  ^  c/^/^^i 
most  learned  divines  of  the  kingdom,  with  thirty  lay  Ua.LZA.  ^_£f_f^' 
assessors — being  ten  lords  and  twenty  commoners — war^iiLe.  (Xf^u^*^ 
called  to  meet  a^  Westminster,  to  advise  with  Parliament  y^^j^^^  cCnn^*^r^ 
on  matters  concerning  the  church.  The  Assembly  met  ^^  tA.^t-u-X 
on     the    first     of    July,    1643,    and    continued    in    fully^/  j~~tu 

operation     until     February,    1649,    a    period     of    five  'u.W^^x*>><-   *^*i 
years,    six    months    and    twenty-two    days,    and    com-  Qrc^<J(.    c*ru.^  > 
prehending      eleven      hundred      and     sixty-three     ses-  (pl<i^^  /TuTii^ 
sions.     A    part    of  it    held    together,    as    a   committee  eyf~r^^^^~C^U^^ 
for    examination,    ordination    and    induction    of    minis-    'y 
ters,  until   March  25,  1652.  when  Parliament  being  dis- 
missed,   the   remnant  of  the    Assembly   also   dispersed, 
without  any  fornjal  act  of  dissolution. 


Ill  that  Assenil)ly  there  were  men  of  Presbj'terian 
views,  Prehitists,  Tndependeiits,  and  a  few  Erastians. 
Presbyterianisra  was  soon  found  to  be  the  doctrine  of 
the  mnjority,  and  that  was  enhirged  b\'  four  clerical 
commissioners  from  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  nine 
laymen,  only  three  or  four  of  wliom,  however, 
attended.  The  Ei)iscopal  Divines  withdrew  before 
the  bringing  in  of  tiie  Covenant  from  Scotland  ; 
and  at  the  end  of  four  years,  the  Independents 
and  Erastians,  wlio  were  still  fewer,  and  differed  from 
the  majority  on  church  government,  also  withdrew. 
Presbyterianism  prevailed  also  in  Parliament,  but  there 
liad  a  weightier  opposition  from  the  side  of  the  Inde- 
pendents, wlio  were  subsequently  strengthened  by  the 
overmastering  inde[)endent  element  of  the  Pai-lianient- 
ary  army^ 

The  Scottish  General  Assembly,  which  met  on  the 
2nd  of  August,  1643,  Avas  attended  ]»y  commissioners 
sent  by  the  English  Parlianient,  some  of  whom  were 
civilians,  to  transact  l)usiness  with  the  Scottish  convention, 
and  some  were  ministers,  \o  confer  with  the  Assembly. 
One  result  of  tliose  conferences  was  the  celebrated  bond  of 
union  in  the  cause  of  religion,  between  the  two  countries, 
called  "The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant."'  Sanctioned 
b}'  the  Assembly  in  Scotland,  August  17,  it  was  carried 
to  London,  and  on  the  25th  of  September  signed  by  tlie 
English  Assend)ly  and  Parliament.  Next  year,  (1644)  it 
was  signed  by  the  Protestants  of  Ireland. 

Of  the  works  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  the  first 
to    be    undertaken    was   the   revisal    of    the    thirty-nine 
Articles.     But,  after   advancing  as  far   as  the  fifteenth, 
that    was   abandoned,  and   an   entirely    new    confession 
undertaken.     For  that  purpose,  a  committee  was  appoint- 
ed  in   May,  1645,  who   prssented   the  work  complete  in 
November,  1646.     After  being  thoroughly  discussed  and 
amended  by  the  Assembly,  it  received  their  sanction   in 
^.      May,    1647.     It  was   then   carefully   revised,   article    by 
,./t£i,L  ^  *'^     article,  by  the  Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons,  and  pub- 
t^-///^^xi»^/-lished  in  June,  1648.     A  Directory  for  Worship  was  also 
'     '  prepared,  and  a  Form  of  Church  government;  and,  for 

purposes  of  instruction,  two  Catechisms,  a  larger  and  a 


shorter,  the  former  intended  as  the  basis  of  doctrinal 
exposition  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  latter  as  a  popular 
mauLial.  The  Shorter  Catechism  was  presented  to  Par- 
liament in  November,  1647,  and  the  Larger,  in  April 
following. 

These  works  were  put  forth  simply  as  "  the  humble 
advice  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  by  authorit}'  of  Par- 
liament, sitting  of  Westminster."  As  such  they  were 
offered  to  all  who  might  freely  accept  them.  iSTo  eccle- 
siastical authority  pretended  to  impose  them  on  the  world. 
And  no  anathemas  were  pronounced  against  those  who 
might  reject  them.  But  they  were  soon  accepted,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  by  such  ecclesiastial  bodies  as  conferred 
upon  them  the  greatest  weight  of  that  kind. 

'  A  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms  was  also  approved 
by  the  same  venerable  l>o']y.  It  was  prepared  by  Francis 
Rous,  a  member  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  also  a  lay 
member  of  the  Assembly.  Proposed  by  the  House  of 
Commons  to  the  consideration  of  the  Divines,  November 
20,  1643,  it  was  bv  them,  after  much  discusaion  and  many 
amendments,  returned  to  Parliament,  November  14,  S^.  p^"*^  ^ 
1645,  with  the  opinion  that  might  be  "  useful  and  PI'o^-^^/a-j-^^,^!^,,^, 
table  to  the  church,"  "  if  permitted  to  be  publicly  sung."  / 
It  was  accordingly  authorized  by  a  vote  of  both  Houses.  HL^x/v^^  ^^ 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  rvfo-Ct-i/yiA"^ 
which  met  at  Edinburgh,  August  4,  1647,  accepted  the  '^ 
Westminster  Confession,  with  the  Catechisms,  as  doc- 


!jt    £^OLlv^ 


(AjL,*~^Uv(Af    — ' 


trinal  symbols  of  the  church  which  it  represented,  and  jyryl^  "^Z  r^* 
'  took  into  consideration  the  metrical  "paraphrase"  of  ^^f  ^t/inl^ 
jS'J^ithe  Psalms  "  brought  from  England."     For  that  latter  ff      -y 

'^  purpose  a  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  the  new  C^'/t^Avt/-*^^ 
version  and  compare  it  with  those  of  Zachary  Boyd,  of 
Sir  William  Mure  of  Rowallan,  and  others.  It  was 
finally  "authorized  for  Scotland  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly and  the  Commission  of  Estates  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1650." 

The  Scottish  Assembly  of  1647  also  approved  the 
Directory  for  Public  Worship,  and  the  Form  of  Church 
Government,  which  had  been  framed,  indeed,  upon  the 
model  of  their  own. 

The  works  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  were  also 
accepted  by  the  Presbyterians  in  Ireland;  and,  with  the 


38 

exception  of  the  Form  of  Oliiireh  Government,  by  the 
colonists  in  New  Engltind,  at  the  Synod  of  Cambridge, 
1648.  In  England,  the  Confession  and  Catechisms 
became  the  doctrinal  standards  of  the  Puritans,  Congre- 
gational and  Baptist,  as  well  as  Presbyterian. 

Meanwhile  the  religious  harmony  of  the  majority  of 
his  people  was  working  the  overthrow  of  the  despotic 
king.  Encouraged  by  the  high  Prelatists,  the  passive 
submission  party,  and  some  of  the  nobility,  he  main- 
tained for  a  time  an  angry  controversy  with  Parliament, 
and  as  he  could  not  dissolve  it,  attempted  to  defeat  its 
action  by  invasion  of  its  privileges.  The  sherift's  of 
London  with  the  train-bands  prepared  to  protect  the 
Parliament,  whereupon  the  king  withdrew  from  the  city. 
Both  parties  began  to  collect  military-  stores,  and  raise 
forces.  Open  war  was  commenced  August  23,  1642,  by 
the  raising  of  the  royal  standard  at  Nottingham.  At 
the  head  of  the  Parliamentary  army  was  the  Earl  of 
Essex.  For  nearly  two  years  the  advantage  was  chiefly 
on  the  side  of  the  king.  But  skilful  officers  grew  u))  in 
the  Parliamentary  army,  Sir  William  Waller,  the  Fair- 
faxes, Cromwell  and  others.  The  victories  became  more 
equally  divided,  and  a  well  trained  Covenanter  army, 
under  command  of  General  Leslie,  gradually  made  its, 
way  from  Scotland,  and  joined  tliat  of  the  Parliament 
on  the  plains  of  Marston  Moor,  in  Yorksliire.  It  was 
on  the  eve  of  a  battle,  in  which  tlie  best  leaders  on  each 
side  were  at  the  head  of  their  respe'ctive  troops.  One 
part  of  the  Parliamentary  army  under  Fairfax  and  Gen. 
Leslie  was  defeated  by  Prince  Rupert;  but  the  other 
under  David  Leslie  and  Oliver  Cromwell,  not  only  beat 
back  its  immediate  opponents,  under  tlie  Marquis  of 
Newcastle,  but  afterwards  encountered  Prince  Rupert 
and  turned  his  victory  into  most  disastrous  defeat.  From 
the  loss  at  Marston  Moor,  July  2,  1644,  the  royalist 
cause  never  entirely  recovered  ;  and  finally  on  the  14th 
of  June  next,  lost  every  thing  in  the  final  battle  of 
Naseby.  Though  the  war  was  protracted  for  a  few 
months  longer,  it  was  purely  a  losing  game  on  the  roya- 
list side. 

In  April.  1646,  the  king  went  privately  and   in   dis- 
guise to  the   Scottish   camp,  where   lie  was  respeetfully 


39 

entertained,  and  resided  until  the  end  of  January,  1647. 
But  the  Scottish  army  in  England  was  an  auxiliary  force 
to  that  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  when  the  war  was 
closed  and  the  soldiers  had  received  their  pay,  had  only 
to  march  home  to  Scotland,  and  could  not  take  the  king 
with  them,  otherwise  than  by  adopting  his  cause,  which 
they  hid  come  into  England  to  defeat;  or  by  carrying 
him  oft"  as  their  own  prisoner,  which  they  had  no  right 
to  do.  Upon  returning  home,  they  accordingly  left  the 
king  in  the  hands  of  his  English  subjects.  Were  they 
to  presume  that  he  would  be  treated  with  less  courtesy 
by  Englishmen  than  by  themselves  ?  And  yet  they  cer- 
tainly would  have  taken  him  with  them  in  triumph  to 
Edinburgh,  even  at  the  risk  of  a  war  with  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment, had  he  but  jiledged  them  the  freedom  of  their 
religion.  For  subsequently,  when  he  did,  though  in 
secret,  enter  iiit(»  an  engagement  with  the  Scottish  Com- 
missioners, to  that  effect,  a  new  army  was  raised  and 
sent  into  England  to  unite  with  the  royalists  in  restoring 
him.  The  movement  was  weakened  by  a  well  founded 
distrust  in  his  voya]  word.  At  Preston,  in  Lancashire, 
August  17,  1G48,  the  army  was  encountered  by  Crom- 
vvcll,  who,  after  defeating  it,  pursued  his  march  to  Edin- 
burgh, and  reestablished  friendly  relations  with  the  Com- 
mittee of  Estates,  renewing  and  signiiig  the  Covenant 
with  them. 

When  the  English  army  returned  to  London,  the  con- 
troversy between  the  king  and  Parliament  had  reached 
a  crisis.  A  majority  in  Parliament  had  resolved  in 
favor  of  measures  looking  towards  restoring  the 
king.  A  detachment  of  soldiers,  under  Col.  Pride, 
interposed,  next  morning,  who  arrested  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  the  members  to  throw  the  majority  on  the  othep 
side.  LTpon  a  reconsideration  of  the  question,  it  was 
subsequently  resolved  to  bring  the  king  to  trial  for  mur- 
der, tyranny  and  treason  to  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  nation.  A  tribunal  was  created  for  the  purpose.  He 
was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  death.  His  execution 
followed,  on  the  80th  of  January,  1649. 

In  the  progress  of  the  conflict,  the  Lidependents  had 
increased  in   numbers  and  power,  chiefly  through  their 


40 

l)redoriiinauc'e  in  the  army,  but  their  control  of  Parlia- 
ment was  secured  bj  violence.  Tlie\-  were  in  favor  of  a 
republic,  but  held  to  no  one  general  system  of  gov- 
ernment. After  the  King's  death,  they  ruled  the  country 
through  the  remnant  ot  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
under  the  name  of  a  commonwealtli.  The  House  of 
Lords  was  abolished.  Cromwell,  at  the  head  of  the 
army,  put  down  all  opposition  in  Ireland  and  Scotland, 
as  well  as  in  England.  Presbyterians  were  monarchists. 
They  had  wished  to  restore  the  King,  with  limitations  of 
his  power,  and  now  looked  to  his  son  as  their  lawful 
monarch.  In  Scotland,  Charles  II.  was  openly  recog- 
nized and  crowned,  but  defeated  and  driven  from  the 
country  by  Cr'omwell  in  the  decisive  battles  of  Dunbar 
and  Worcester. 

In  the  course  of  three  years,  the  government  got 
involved  in  great  embarrassment,  the  finances  were 
deranged,  and  the  pay  of  the  soldiers  fell  far  in  arrears. 
No  sign  appeared  of  remedy  from  Parliament.  Crom- 
well dismissed  the  inefficient  assemblage,  and  issued  a 
call  for  a  new  election.  By  a  council  of  officers, 
with  the  Lord  Mayor  ant!  Aldermen  of  Lt)n(l()n 
and  some  other  public  functionaries,  Cromwell 
was  a[)pointed  to  supreme  authority,  under  the  name 
of  Protector.  Through  the  character  and  force  of  his 
own  mind,  his  rule  was  equally  strong  and  liberal,  but 
was  unavoidably  absolute,  and  could  not  satisfy  the 
nation.  All  parties  were  permitted  to  practice  their 
religion  peacefully,  on  condition  of  giving  their  assent 
to  the  Engagement,  an  instrument  obligating  loj^alty  to 
the  existing  authorities. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  had  been  established  in 
England  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  although  set  up  in 
fact  in  only  a  few  places,  was,  during  the  commonwealth, 
the  model  contemplated  in  all  measures  of  the  general 
government.  Purity  of  doctrine  and  life,  especiall}'  on 
the  part  of  its  ministers,  was  insisted  on,  but  otherwise 
great  freedom  was  enjoyed.  Cromwell  allowed  no  per- 
secution for  religion's  sake.  His  liberal  toleration  was 
one  of  the  bitterest  charges  against  hira,  in  his  own  time. 
Not  the  less  did  he  take   measures  to  give  effect  to  the 


•      41 

established  church,  and  to  purify  it  from  incompetent, 
or  otherwise  improper  ministers. 

The  first  step  to  that  end  was  taken  on  the  20th  of 
March,  1654,  in  the  appointment  of' a  commission  for 
the  trial  of  public  preachers.  It  consisted  of  nine  lay- 
men and  twenty-nine  clergymen,  selected  from  the  Pres- 
byterians, Independents  and  Baptists,  with  special 
view^  to  their  prudence,  sagacity,  and  sound  christian 
experience.  By  those  '•  Triers,"  as  the}'  were  called, 
"  any  person  pretending  to  hold  a  church  living,  or  levy 
tithes  or  clergy  dues  in  England,"  was  first  to  be  tried 
and  approved,  as  to  his  religious  knowledge,  moral  char- 
acter and  ability  to  teach. 

A  second  step,  taken  in  the  following  August,  con- 
sisted in  appointing  local  commissioners,  of  both  clergy 
and  laymen,  from  fifteen  to  thirty  in  each  county  in  Eng- 
land, whose  duty  it  was  "  to  inquire  into  scandalous, 
ignorant,  insufiicient,  and  otherwise  deleterious  minis- 
ters af  the  gospel,  and  to  be  a  tribunal  for  judging  and 
ejecting  them.  Persons  thus  ejected,  if  married,  were  to 
be  allowed  a  small  pension." 

Still  further,  to  distribute  the  force  of  government 
over  the  country,  and  secure  the  regular  working  of 
minor  appointments  in  both  church  and  state,  the  Pro- 
tector, in  1655,  divided  England  into  ten  districts,  plac- 
ing in  each,  with  the  title  of  Major  General,  a  man  most 
carefully  chosen,  of  real  wisdom,  fearing  God  and  of 
unimpeachable  integrity.  These  officers  were  invested 
with  a  universal  superintendence  civil,  military,  and 
ecclesiastical.  They  were  to  take  care  that  the  taxes 
were  collected,  to  inquire  after  the  private  assemblies  of 
suspected  persons,  and  such  as  frequented  taverns  and 
gaming  houses,  and  after  scandalous  and  unlearned 
ministers  and  schoolmasters,'and  to  aid  the  commission 
in  ejecting  them.  And  they  were  ordered  to  enlist  a 
body  of  reserves,  at  half-pay,  who  might  be  called 
together  upon  any  sudden  emergency.  There  was 
no  appeal  from  the  Major  General,  except  to  the  Protec- 
tor himself.  This  part  of  the  government  was  only  tem- 
porary, and  when  apparently  no  longer  needed,  was  with- 
drawn.    The  commission   of  Triers   continued  to  sit  at 


Y   - 


42     ■ 

Whitehall  until  after  the  Protector's  death.     In  1659  it 
was  discontinued. 

In  Scotland  there  was  almost  perfect  agreement  in 
sustaining  the  i^ational  Presbyterian  Church,  and  little 
difference  oti  the  subject  of  loyalty  to  the  absent  Charles 
II.  Submission  to  the  existing  rule  was  deemed  the 
necessity  of  an  interim.  But  what  at  one  time  had  been 
a  bond  of  union  to  Scotsmen,  now  proved  to  be  a  cause 
of  dissention.  The  national  Covenant  was  turned  into 
a  religious  test,  and  subscription  made  indispensable  to 
the  holding  of  any  place  in  the  service  of  the  country. 
During  the  war  with  Cromwell,  Parliament  passed  cer- 
tain resolutions  repeating  that  law.  Against  those  reso- 
lutions the  stricter  party  protested.  And  the  quarrel 
between  Resolutioners  and  Protestors  marred  the  peace 
of  the  church  and  involved  it  in  civil  broils.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  which  met  in  July,  1652,  was  so  agitated 
by  these  causes  that  it  broke  up,  and  its  acts  were  never 
recorded.  It  did  not  meet  again  during  the  Protecto- 
rate. But  Synods  and  Presbyteries  continued  to  meet 
as  formerly.  As  in  England,  so  in  Scotland  means  were 
taken  by  Cromwell  to  promote  the  interests  of  true 
religion.  Mr.  Patrick  Gillespie,  and  some  others  of  the 
stricter  party  received  a  commission  empowering  them 
to  settle  the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  secure  its  purity. 
A  quiet,  but  pervasive  revival  of  religion  filled  up  the 
rest  of  the  Protectorate  in  Scotland. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  the  king,  a  commission 
was  appointed  to  set  in  order  the  churches  of  Wales. 
The  spiritual  destitution  of  the  Principality  was  great. 
And  as  it  was  difficult  to  find  a  sufficient  number  of  pious 
and  learned  ministers  able  to  preach  in  the  Welsh  lan- 
guage, itinerant  preachers,  six  for  each  county,  were 
appointed  to  supply  the  deficiency,  until  the  number 
equal  to  the  parishes  could  be  filled  up. 

Ireland  was  virtually  divided  by  geographical  limits 
among  the  great  religious  parties,  the  Presbyterians  being 
chiefly  residents  of  Ulster,  the  Episcopalians  of  Leinster, 
and  the  Catholics  of  all  the  rest.  Episcopacy  had  been 
the  established  religion  from  the  Reformation.  It 
ceased  to  be  such  under  the  action  of  the  Long  Parlia- 


43 

meut,  in  January,  l(j43.  The  terrors  of  the  Catholic 
rebellion  constrained  Protestants  of  every  name  to  make 
common  cause.  Cromwell,  with  terrific  severity,  com- 
pelled the  Catholics  to  submission,  confined  them  to  one 
part  of  the  island,  and  filled  the  land  taken  from  them 
with  a  more  orderly  and  industrious  population.  In  the 
prosperity  which  succeeded,  the  church  participated. 
Under  the  lieutenancy  of  Major  General  Fleetwood,  and 
still  more  of  Henry  Cromwell,  the  long  harassed  country 
enjoyed  an  interval  of  wise  and  benign  government. 

In  New  England,  th-e  colonists  were  allowed  to 
establish  Congregationalism,  as  the  religious  S3^stem  of 
their  choice.  A  scheme  was  also  projected  for  carrying 
the  gospel  to  the  jSTorth  American  Indians,  which  the 
death  of  the  Protector  prevented  from  going  into  opera- 
tion. 

It  was  the  purpose  of  Cromwell  to  constitute  the 
British  Church  the  centre  of  a  confederation  of  all  the 
Protestant  churches  of  Europe.  His  plan,  according  to 
Bishop  Burnet,  was  matured,  and  contemplated  common 
defence  against  Rome,  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  employment  of  secretaries  to  "  hold  correspondence 
everywhere,  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  state  of  reli- 
gion all  over  the  world,  that  so  all  good  designs  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  whole,  and  of  the  several  parts,  might  by 
their  means  be  protected  and  encouraged."  Though  this 
also  was  defeated  by  his  death,  his  administration  [lut  the 
British  isles  into  such  a  leading  relation  to  the  Protestant 
world  as  they  did  not  again  assume  until  the  reign  of 
William  III.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  respects,  the 
Revolution  was  the  true  successor  of  the  Commonwealth, 
less  earnest  ai.d  daring,  but  more  cautious,  expedient, 
and  successful. 

Cromwell  died  on  the  anniversary  of  his  great  vic- 
tories of  Dunbar  and  of  Worcester,  September  3,  1658. 
His  son  Richard  was  put  up  as  his  successor,  a  man  with- 
out either  capacity  or  ambition  to  rule,  and  who  was  soon 
set  aside.  The  officers  of  the  army  demanded  the  re- 
assembling of  the  Long  Parliament.  "  Of  the  one 
hundred  and  sixty  members,  who  hwd  continued  to  sit 
after  the  King's  death,  about  ninety  returned  to  their 


44 

seats,  and  resumed  the  administration  of  affairs."  They 
remembered  too  well  their  expulsion  by  arms  seven  years 
before,  and  returned  to  their  old  quarrel,  and  especially 
demanded  the  dismissal  of  Generals  Fleetwood  and  Lam- 
bert. The  army  drove  them  again  from  their  seats,  and 
under  their  favorite  officers  marched  northward  to  meet 
General  Monk,  who  was  understood  to  be  advancing  from 
Scotland. 

Monk,  who  thus  fell  into  the  place  of  power  in  the 
army,  and  who  had  carefully  taken  all  the  necessary  pre- 
cautions to  secure  it,  continued  his  march,  and  entered 
London  without  opposition.  With  many  protestations 
of  respect,  he  called  the  remaining  members  of  the  old 
Parliament  once  more,  and  on  this  occasion,  the  survivors 
of  those  who  had  been  excluded  by  Col.  Pride  resumed 
their  phices.  Their  action  was  legally  to  dissolve  their 
own  organization,  after  having  resolved  on  the  election 
of  a  new  House  of  Commons. 

The  Convention  Parliament  proved  to  be  predomi- 
nantly Presbyterian,  took  the  Solemn  League  and  Cove- 
nant, and  proceeded  to  draw  up  terms  on  which  the  king 
might  be  restored.  Meanwhile  General  Monk  had  taken 
the  matter  into  his  own  hand,  and  by  secret  correspondence 
with  Charles  had  prepared  the  way  for  his  return.  All 
exaction  of  terms  was  thereby  rendered  impossible. 
"  The  Declaration  of  Breda,  which  promised  a  general 
pardon,  religious  toleration,  and  satisfaction  to  the 
army,"  was  all  the  limitation  of  his  power  with  which 
the  son  of  Charles  L,  in  May,  1660,  returned  to  his  fath- 
er's throne.  And  simultaneously  the  old  constitution 
was  restored  by  vote  of  the  Convention.  The  vote  was 
unnecessary;  for  with  the  monarch,  returned  all  the  old 
monarchical  machinery. 

THE    BRITISH    CHURCHES    IN    THE    RESTORATION. 

Presbyterians,  in  possession  of  power,  expected  to 
retain  their  place  in  the  restored  establishment,  under  the 
king,  and  were  prepared  to  yield  something  to  their 
Episcopalian  partners,  in  order  to  secure  that  end.  A 
moderate  Episcopacy,  on  Usher's  plan,  would  have  suited 
the  views  of  most  of  them. 


45 

In  this  respect  the  English  Presbyterians  differed 
from  those  of  Scotland.  The  latter  had  by  their  history 
been  taught  to  regard  Episcopacy  as  an  enemy,  and  con- 
sistently opposed  and  repelled  its  approaches  in  every 
shape  ;  the  former,  having  grown  up  side  by  side  with  it, 
in  the  same  establishment,  would  have  been  content  to 
remain  there,  had  its  claims  and  exactions  been  mode- 
rated to  tolerate  them.  And  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
Presbyterians,  when  in  power,  although  intolerant  of 
other  sects  extended  a  large  liberality  to  Episcopalians, 
who  practiced  their  religion  quietly,  and  without  offence 
to  the  government.  A  large  number  of  Episcopalians, 
were  actually  in  the  ministry  under  the  Presbyterian 
rule,  when  the  restoration  occurred.  It  was  therefore 
not  unreasonable  of  them  to  expect  such  measure  as  they 
had  meted.  Episcopac}'  was,  in  their  eyes,  a  brother- 
hood, with  whom  they  were  to  live  together  in  unity. 
The  Church  of  England  was  their  common  home,  which 
they  agreed  to  love.  Leading  Episcopalians  knew  that 
fact  well,  and  counted  upon  it  as  a  power  for  enforcing 
upon  them  conformity  with  their  own  views. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  1660,  a  few  of  the  Presby- 
terians applied  to  the  king  to  obtain  a  conference  between 
them  and  the  Bishops,  with  the  view  of  entering  into  a 
compromise  which  should  be  satisfactory  to  both.  The 
royal  consent  was  given,  and  the  meeting  took  place. 
But  no  compromise  could  be  effected.  The  old  laws  for 
uniformity  of  worship  were  put  in  force.  Upon  further 
application  to  the  king,  he  ordered  a  Declaration  to  be 
drawn  up,  with  a  view  to  relieve  the  agrieved,  which, 
after  another  conference  had  discussed  it,  was  issued 
Oct.  25,  1660.     It  failed  of  attaining  its  purpose. 

Meanwhile  a  new  Parliament  had  met.  It  soon 
evinced  a  spirit  of  bitter  hostility  to  everything  Puritan. 
In  addition  to  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy, 
another  was  now  enacted,  to  be  taken  by  all  persons  in 
all  places  of  magistracy  in  the  kingdom.  By  that  oath 
the  candidate  abjured  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant, 
declared  that  he  believed  it  unlawful,  upon  any  pretense, 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  king,  and  was  laid  under 
obligation  to  take  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 


46 


according  to  the  Episcopal  rite,  within  one  year  after  his 
election.      Commissioners   were  appointed"  to   visit   the  • 
several    corporations   of  England,  and   turn   out  all  who 
were  found  in  the  least  degree  distasteful  to  the  govern- 
ment. 

It  was  in  1661  that  the  final  conference  was  held,  on> 
this  subject,  between  some  leaders  of  the  Puritans  and 
Prelatists,  in  the  chapel  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  in 
what  is  called  the  Savoy.  They  were  authorized  to 
review  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  advise  and  con- 
sult together,  and  to  make  such  alterations  in  it  as  might 
seem  to  them  desirable,  and  "  expedient  for  giving  satis- 
faction to  tender  consciences,  and  the  restori'ng  and  con- 
tinuance of  peace  and  unity  in  the  churches  under  his 
majesty's  government."  Their  sessions  were  allowed  to 
continue  four  months  from  March  25th,  and  at  the  close 
the  King  was  to  be  presented  with  the  results,  for  his 
final  decision.  Twenty-one  delegates  were  aupointed  on 
each  side.  Their  first^meeting  took  place  on'the  15th  of 
April. 

Nothing  was  accomplished  to  the  end  for  which  the 
conference  was  called.  The  Prayer  Book  was  revised 
by  the  Puritan  divines,  but  all  the  changes  proposed 
were  rejected  by  the  other  party.  Subsequently,  a  few 
changes  were  made  by  the  Prelates  themselves,  and  the 
whole  liturgy  then  brought  to  the  state  in  which  it  now 
stands,  was  subscribed  by  both' houses  of  convocation  of 

, both  provinces,  Dec.  20,  1661,  and  established  by  act  of 

\7?ulu  ^/-^P^^'liament,  in  March  following.     In  these  acts  not  the 

•T  ^&X  ^^^^'^^^^^^    regard    was   had    to    the    Presbyterians.     The 

^*''/sl    /  r     ^^^''^3'®!'  Book  was   to   be  enforced   as   the   only  form  of 

/  /Oi^  «^  u^^^f'worship  tolerated  in  England.    Each  minister  was  required 

^W^^^^^  ^'»"  ^  declaration  that  he  truly  believed  and  approved 

/?y     i&C    ^^^  ^1^'^*^  ^'^s  contained  in  it.     And  Episcopal  ordination 

-     ^-^^*^'       '  was  made  indispensable  to  any  place  in  the  ministry  of 

the  English   Church.     This  act  of  uniformity  went  into 

operation  as  law  on  St.   Bartholomew's  day,  August  24, 

1662,  when  not  less  than  two  thousand  ministers  chose  to 

quit  their  livings  rather  than  subscribe  to  its  conditions  ; 

and  these  were  additional  to  those  extruded  before  the 

act  was  passed. 


u^/- 

^  /2.. 


47 

The  restored  king  was  a  man  of  no  religion,  of  no 
earnest  moral  purpose  ;  the  profligacy  of  his  life  was  a 
free  unscrupulous  abandonment.  Public  offices  were,  in 
general,  filled  with  men  of  his  own  stamp,  whose  supreme 
law  was  the  royal  will,  and  who  slirunk  from  no  injustice 
to  give  it  eflect,  without  troubling  him  about  details. 
Especially  were  persons  who  lived  godly  lives  exposed 
to  suffering  and  contempt.  The  example  of  a  profligate 
court  was  followed  with  abundant  docility  by  the  fashion- 
able public.  Literature  became  a  pander  to  depravity  ; 
and  theology  suffered  from  the  contact.  The  rich  and 
profound  treatises  of  the  preceding  generation  gave 
place,  in  course  of  time,  to  teachings  of  a  shallower 
school. 

To  the  Presbyterians  of  England  the  changes  made 
at  the  restoration,  and  the  subsequent  progress  of  events 
were  most  disastrous.  Turned  out  of  the  established 
church,  they  were  not  permitted  to  form  the  organization 
proper  to  themselves,  and  were  thereby  broken  into 
separate  congregations.  Under  the  common  name  of 
non-conformists,  they  suffered  great  oppression,  until 
relieved,  in  some  degree,  by  the  revolution.  Their 
strength  and  organization  they  never  recovered.  In 
course  of  time,  from  lack  of  common  government,  their 
churches  fell  into  error,  aiid  lost  also  their  orthodox 
faith. 

In  England,  Episcopacy  had  a  strong  hold  upon  a 
large  body  of  the  people,  including  a  wealthy  aristocratic 
class,  and  the  men  who  chiefly  controled  the  revenues  of 
the  church,  as  well  as  in  the  prescriptive  position  of  a 
former  occupancy.  In  Scotland  the  case  was  very  differ- 
ent. There  it  had  never  obtained  a  place,  to  any  degree, 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  And  yet  in  that  kingdom 
it  was  the  purpose  of  the  general  government  to  plant 
it.  At  first  it  had  not  even  a  plea  for  intrusion,  save  the 
advantage  which  was  contemplated  in  constraining  all 
the  people  of  the  British  isles  into  one  religion.  An 
agent  for  the  purpose  was  found  in  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, who  sent  from  Scotland  to  London  in  the  interest 
of  the  Scottish  church,  proved  traitor  to  the  cause. 
James  Sharp,  together  with  three  others  received  Episco- 


48 

pal  consecration  in  London,  and  returned  to  plant  Angli- 
canism in  Scotland.  With  that  beginning,  bishops  were 
arbitrarily  set  over  the  kingdom,  and  archbishops  in  St, 
Andrews  and  Glasgow,  with  Sharp  as  the  Primate.  The 
ministers  of  the  parishes,  who  submitted  to  the  intrusive 
system,  might  retain  their  places  under  a  new  title  :  but 
those  who  declined  to  conform  were  extruded,  and  their 
places  filled  with  more  compliant  subjects.  The  parish- 
oners,  in  general,  preferred  to  follow  their  pastors.  Gov- 
ernment found  that,  having  imposed  a  new  clergy  upon 
the  people,  they  had  also  to  compel!  the  people  to  attend 
their  ministrations,  and  measures  were  taken  accordingly. 

The  new  privy  council,  instituted  to  manage  the 
affairs  of  Scotland,  sustained  the  prelates  in  all  their 
measures.  Fines  were  imposed  upon  all  persons  who 
did  not  attend  the  church  of  their  own  parish,  or  who 
attended  the  preaching  of  the  ejected  ministers  anywhere. 
And  inasmuch  as  multitudes  preferred  to  pay  the  fines 
and  enjoy  such  preaching  as  was  felt  to  be  profitable,  the 
fines  were  increased,  and  military  were  sent  to  exact 
them.  These  acts  were  followed  by  another  to  enforce 
the  signing  of  a  declaration  condemning  the  covenant, 
without  which  no  person  was  to  be  eligible  to  anj'  place 
of  trust. 

In  1664,  the  Court  of  High  Con^mission  was  restored 
and  endowed  by  the  king  with  most  extensive  authoi-ity. 
It  was  empowered  to  punish  all  deposed  ministers,  who 
presumed  to  preach,  all  attenders  of  conventicles,  and 
all  who  wrote,  spoke,  preached  or  printed  against 
Prelacy,  and  in  general  to  do  and  execute  what  they 
should  find  necessary  and  convenient  for  his  Majesty's 
service  in  the  premises.  It  consisted  of  thirty-five  lay- 
men and  nine  prelates,  five  constituted  a  quorum,  one  of 
whom  must  be  a  prelate,  and  all  might  be,  and  prelates 
alone  had  professional  interest  in  carrying  out  its  objects. 
In  that  court,  thenceforward,  resided  the  chief  authority 
of  persecution.  Archbishop  Sharp  was  the  head  of  it. 
A  real  inquisition,  it  obtained  intelligence  of  every  sin- 
cere and  consistent  Presbyterian  throughout  the  land, 
oppressed  at  will,  and  passed  sentence,  if  deemed  expedi- 
ent, upon  mere  accusation,  without  trial,  or  even  hearing 
of  the  accused. 


49 

One  of  the  bishops  tlms  intruded,  was  Robert  Leigh- 
ton,  a  man  of  eminent  pietj'  and  learning.  Soon  per- 
ceiving the  unchristian  nature  of  the  measures  under 
which  they  were  acting,  he  sought  to  resign  his  office. 
Urgently  persuaded,  he  withdrew  his  resignation,  and  was 
appointed  archbishop  of  Glasgow.  But  finally,  in  1670, 
with  much  distress  of  mind,  under  the  feeling  that  he 
and  his  colleagues  were  fighting  against  God,  he  abso- 
lutely resigned,  and  withdrew  to  England. 

An  evidence  also  that  the  King  was  himself  beginning 
to  doubt  the  expediency  of  the  bloody  work  going  on 
among  his  northern  subjects,  appeared  in  the  indulgence 
which  was  issued  from  Whitehall  in  June  1669.  It 
authorized  the  council  "  to  appoint  so  many  of  the  outed 
ministers  as  have  lived  peaceably  and  orderly  in  the 
places  where  they  have  resided,  to  return  and  preach  and 
exercise  other  functions  of  their  ministry  in  the  parish 
churches  where  they  formerly  resided  and  served,  pro- 
vided  they  be  vacant."  Some  of  the  ministers  accepted  U-X  ^-  " 
of  the  deceitful  favor.  Others  justly  regarded  it  as  only 
a  means  of  beguiling  into  compliance  with  the  intrusive 
system.  Such  indulgences  were  repeed ;  but  in 
the  same  spirit,  and  without  diminishing  tlie  severities 
upon  those  who  could  not  be  bribed  to  desert  the  cause 
of  their  church  and  the  constitution  of  their  country. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  of  awful  suffering  wasted  the 
most  worthy  population  of  Scotland — that  very  class  of 
the  people,  which,  if  ruled  with  a  moderate  degree  of 
wisdom,  would  have  been  the  most  profitable  to  the 
national  wealth.  Some  were  ruined  by  fines,  some  were 
imprisoned,  some  banished,  some  were  driven  into  exile, 
some  were  sent  into  the  colonies  and  sold  for  slaves,  and 
many  were  put  to  torture,  and  ignominious  deaths.  In 
the  midst  of  such  cruel  and  prolonged  oppression,  the 
people  refrained  from  rebellion,  and  only  in  one  instance 
were  any  of  them  provoked  into  a  fatal  act  of  jiolence,  and       »  %  :"\  i 

that  in  the  assassination  of  Archbishop  Sharp.    The  rising      X  J  '  Hmaj- 
at  Pentland  was  only  an  assemblage  of  countrymen  for  their 
common  protection  against  the  bands  of  soldiers,  who  were 
plundering  the  country.     And  that  which  commenced 
at  Drumclog  was  a  worshipping  congregation  driven  to 


f''       "^  50 

';    •    . 

self-defence  by  an  attack  of  military.  The  persecution 
became  more  reckless  of  even  the  forms  of  law,  as  it 
went  on,  and  finally,  troops  of  cavalry,  under  such  lead- 
ers as  Bruce  of  Earlshall  and  John  Graham  of  Claver- 
house,  traversed  the  country  plundering  and  shooting 
men  and  women  whom  the}'  suspected  of  the  proscribed 
faith,  wherever  they  met  them.  The  death  of  Charles  in 
1685,  wrought  no  relief  for  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland. 
The  indulgences  of  his  successor  were  not  for  them. 
Some  of  the  most  notorious  acts  of  atrocity  were  perpe- 
trated in  the  reign  of  James  II. 

The  cries  of  non-conforming  England,  and  of  cove- 
nanting Scotland,  raised  day  and  night  to  heaven,  seemed 
long  to  have  been  raised  in  vain.  James  II.  took  a  step 
which  brought  down  the  retribution  upon  himself  and 
his  dynasty,  and  with  it  the  relief  of  his  i)eople.  VVitli 
the  intention  of  building  up  Catholicism,  he  applied  the 
force  of  authority  to  Anglican  Prelacy.  On  the  first 
attempt  coercion,  the  bishops  raised  such  a  remonstrance 
as  to  arouse  the  indignation  of  their  party  against  the 
king.  For  the  moment,  they  threw  themselves  on  the 
side  of  those  whom  they  had  been  oppressing  for  eight 
and  twenty  years.  The  protestant  heir  of  the  crown  was 
invited  to  England.  James  fled  to  France.  And  before 
they  were  fully  aware,  the  Prelates  had  helped  to  seat  a 
Presbyterian  on  the  throne. 

Some  of  the  bishops  in  England,  and  all  of  them  in 
Scotland,    when    they    perceived    the   result,   were   con- 
founded and  indignant,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
new  king.     But  it  was   too   late  for  regret.     The  last  of 
.  _^      .  the   Stuart   kings   had   gone,  never  to  return.     The  last 

a  AjUt^f>C_  —  victim  of  their  oppression  in  Scotland,  was  executed  on 
the  17th  of  February,  1688.  The  Revolution  was  secured. 
And  the  long  apparently  hopeless  struggle  of  the  Cove- 
nanters was  victorious  at  last.  They  wore  restored  to 
their  place  as  the  established  church  of  Scotland. 

CHURCHES  IN  THE  BRITISH    ISLKS    DURING    THE    REVOLUTION. 

James  II.  was  an  earnest  Catholic,  in  which  faith  also 
his  brother  Charles  died.  After  two  years  of  oppressive 
government,   continuing  the  policy   of  his  predecessor, 


51 

James  obtaiiied  from  an  "obsequious  bench  of  judges 
the  decision  that  he  had  power  to  dispense  with  the  penal 
laws  in  particular  cases,"  and  thought  that  the  way  was 
prepared  for  reinstating  his  co-religionists  in  authority, 
and  began  to  take  measures  accordingly.  His  first  step 
was  to  relieve  them  from  legal  disabilities  ;  but  to  extend 
such  a  favor  to  them,  and  not  to"  other  dissenters  would 
unite  against  him  all  denominations  of  Protestants.  In 
1687,  he  issued,  in  rapid  succession,  three  indulgences, 
first  permitting  nioderate  Presbyterians  to  meet  for  wor- 
ship, but  still  withholding  toleration  from  those  who  had 
no  place  of  worship  but  the  fields  ;  and  secondly,  remov- 
ing all  laws  against  Catholics,  and  making  them  eligible 
to  all  ofiices  of  trust  and  honor  in  the  land.  This  appeared 
on  the  12th  of  February.  In  the  succeeding  two  of 
March  31  and  June  28,  the  favors  of  the  first  were  pro- 
fessedly extended,  but  with  the  same  exception,  and  all 
by  the  "sovereign  authority,  prerogative  royal,  and  abso- 
lute power  "  of  the  crown. 

Anglican  Prelates  could  not  fail  to  see  the  purpose  of 
the  King's  policy.  Finally,  on  the  fourth  of  May,  1688,  an 
order  of  council  was  issued  commanding  the  ministers  of 
the  established  church  to  read  from  their  pulpits  a  declara- 
tion of  liberty  of  conscience,  which  had  been  published' 
a  few  days  before.  Some  of  them  refused  to  compl}',  on 
the  ground  that  the  declaration  was  illegal.  Seven  of 
the  bishops,  with  the  Primate  at  their  head,  presented  a 
petition  to  the  king  containing  their  reasons  for  what 
they  had  done.  The  king  sent  them  to  the  tower  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  thereby  aroused  the  whole  Ejjiseopal  body  to  the 
greatest  excitement,  under  which  they  rushed  into  revolt 
against  their  own  doctrine  of  passive  obedience.  Roy- 
alty had  violated  the  privilege  of  the  English  Church. 

In  June,  1688,  the  seven  bishops  were  tried  on  charge 
of  publishing  a  "  seditious,  false  and  malicious  libel." 
Great  was  the  excitement  among  the  people;  and  when 
the  bishops  were  acquitted,  the  king  was  virtually- 
defeated  on  the  ground  of  his  whole  policy.  On  the 
next  day,  June  80th,  certain  noblemen  subscribed  in 
cipher  an  address  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  inviting  him 
to   come  over,  and   put    himself  at  the  head  of  a  nation 


52 

impatient  to  welcome  him.  More  formal  proposals  fol- 
lowed. William  arrived  on  the  fifth  of  November  :  and 
on  the  night  of  the  twenty-second  of  December,  James 
stole  secretly  away. 

William's  right  to  the  throne  was  through  his  wife, 
Mary,  the  eldest  daughter  of  James  L^.  He  was  himself 
third  in  succession.  But  the  source  of  his  power  lay  in 
the  choice  of  the  people  whom  he  ruled,  and  his  own 
prudence  and  liberality,  whereby  he  recognized  consti- 
tutional limitations. 

During  the  twenty-eight  years,  which  thus  closed, 
according  to  the  most  competent  authority,  more  than 
eighteen  thousand  persons  had  suffered  for  the  Presby- 
terian cause,  in  Scotland,  by  imprisonment,  exile,  slavery 
and  death  ;  besides  the  desohition  spread  over  the  countr}' 
by  fines,  assessments,  and  the  lawless  plunder  of  soldiery, 
by  which  whole  districts  were  almost  turned  into  a 
wilderness. 

Towards  the  end  of  1688,  it  was  rumored,  that  the 
deposed  king  was  raising  the  Catholic  Irish  for  invasion 
of  Scotland.  The  Privy  Council  accordingly  issued  a 
proclamation  requiring  all  Protestaiit  subjects  to  arm, 
and  put  themselves  in  a  state  of  self  defence.  After  that 
act  of  December  24,  1688,  the  Scottish  Privy  Council, 
so  long  the  engine  of  persecution,  came  to  an  end,  by 
natural  dissolution.  The  rumor  of  invasion  proved 
unfounded.  But  being  organized  and  left  to  themselves 
the  troops  took  occasion  to  remove  some  of  the  Prelatic 
curates,  who  had  been  forced  upon  them.  It  was  much 
to  their  credit  in  the  circumstances,  that  they  injured 
neither  life  nor  personal  property. 

By  authority  of  King  William,  a  convention,  freely 
representing  all  classes  of  Protestants  in  Scotland,  met 
in  Edinburgh,  March  14,  1689.  The  revolution  was 
recognized,  and  William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  on 
the  eleventh  of  April.  Parliament  assembled  June  5th, 
and  recognizing  the  work  of  the  Convention,  passed  an 
act  "  abolishing  Prelacy,  and  all  superiority  of  any  office 
in  the  church  in  this  kingdom  above  Presbyters." 

Meanwhile  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  recently  made 
Viscount  Dundee  by  King  James,  was  marching  with  an 


58 

army  southwards  from  the  central  Highlands.  He  was 
encountered,  July  7,  1689,  hy  General  Maekay,  at  the 
pass  of  Killieerankie,  where  he  was  slain,  his  troops  dis- 
persed, and  the  insurrection  he  had  raised  hrought  to  a 
sudden  termination. 

ISText  year,  1690,  various  acts  were  passed  by  Parlia- 
ment restoring,  the  constitution  of  the  church  on  the 
foundation  of  the  acts  of  1592,  and  declaring  that  the 
church  government  be  "  in  the  hands  of,  and  exercised 
by  those  Presbyterian  ministers,  who  were  outed  since 
the  tirst  of  Januar3',  1661,  and  such  ministers  and  elders 
onl}-  as  they  have  admitted  and  received,  or  shall  here- 
after admit  and  receive."  In  accordance  with  these  and 
other  acts  of  similar  import,  the  General  Assembly 
resumed  its  meetings,  October  16,  1690,  which  have  not 
been  interrupted  since  that  day. 

Through  the  latter  part  of  the  civil  wars,  the  Presby- 
terians of  Ireland,  like  those  of  England  and  Scotland, 
defended  the  cause  of  the  king  against  the  Parliament. 
When  Cromwell  was  proclaimed  Protector,  they  with- 
drew opposition  to  what  was  to  be  then  regarded  as  the 
government  of  the  country.  After  his  death,  they  took 
the  part  of  the  restoration.  By  that  time,  they  had  in 
Ulster,  about  seventy  settled  ministers,  with  eighty  con- 
gregations, and  a  population  of  one  hundred  thousand. 
As  elsewhere,  Prelacy  was  now  imposed  upon  them. 
Two  archbishops  for  Armagh  and  Dublin,  and  ten 
bishops  were  consecrated  in  Dublin,  January  27,  1661. 
Armagh,  to  which  belongs  the  Primac}^  was  conferred 
upon  Dr.  Bramhall,  and  in  tilling  the  Bishoprics  that  of 
Down  and  Connor  was  assigned  to  Jeremy  Taylor. 

Meetings  of   Prestytery   v:ere   now   prohibited,    and  lob^^ 
Bishop   Taylor  commenced  the  work  of  oppression  by 
calling  upon  the  Presbyterian  ministers  to  submit  to  his  ^/  -     • 

rule,  and  when  they  declined,  by  ejecting  them  from  their  (jf-C^Cti.c<^<^^^ 
churches,  which  most  of  them  had  built  up  with  their  0-  '- 
own  evangelical  labors.  Ministers  thus  ejected  were  for- 
bidden, under  heavy  penalties,  to  preach,  exhort,  or 
administer  the  sacraments  anywhere.  In  the  Irish  Par- 
liament Presbyterians  found  few  friends.  The  Prelatic 
establishment  was   sustained,   to   the  great  hardship  of 


54 

botli  Catholic  and  Protestant  dissenters.  After  the  death 
of  Bishop  Taylor  the  severity  was,  to  some  degree,  relaxed 
in  Ulster,  but  the  condition  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
there  remained  very  precarious  and  fluctuating,  and 
depended  upon  the  temper  of  men  in  power.  In  1684 
under  their  deplorable  oppression,  most  of  the  ministers 
of  Deri'y  and  Donegal,  thought  of  removing  to  America. 
The  death  of  the  king  in  February  following  induced 
most  of  them  to  remain,  in  hopes  of  better  times.  The}- 
were  disappointed.  James  had  his  favors  for  dissenters, 
but  they  were  for  the  Catholics.  In  1688,  the  Protest- 
ants received  information  that  the  Catholics  intended  to 
rise  in  arms  and  murder  tliera.  The  inhabitants  of  Lon- 
donderry, Enniskillen  and  Coh'aine  shut  themselves  up 
within  the  walls  of  their  respective  cities.  The  open 
country  was  laid  waste,  and  its  people  destroyed. 

When  James  lied  from  England,  he  trusted  that  the 
Popish  party  in  Ireland  would  be  strong  enough  to  sus- 
tain a  reaction  to  restore  him.  He  landed  at  Kinsale, 
March  12,  1689,  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  insur- 
rection. His  lieutenant,  Tyrconnel,  had  alreadj'  reduced 
all  Ulster,  except  Londonderi'v,  which  was  strongh- 
besieged.  In  August,  the  Duke  Schomberg  arrived,  and 
restored  tranquility  to  Ulster.  And  in  June  of  the  next 
year,  (1690,)  William  landed  and  took  command  of  his 
own  ami}-.  The  campaign  and  battle  of  the  Boyne  fol- 
lowed, which,  although  it  did  not  end  the  war,  decided 
its  issue.  James  returned  to  France,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  the  new  king,  with  its  more  liberal  principles, 
was  set  up  in  Ireland.  Henceforward,  the  working  of 
the  revised  constitution  of  the  English  government 
gradually  prevailed  over,  though  it  did  not  soon  bring  to 
an  end,  that  oppression  in  which  the  establishment  had 
indulged  so  long.  ^ 

In  the  history  of  the  Reformation,  all  parties,  in  the 
first  instance,  were  under  the  delusion  that  the  church, 
in  order  to  be  true,  must  be  one,  in  form  of  government, 
in  worship  and  definition  of  doctrine. -'^-Tliey  had  no  idea 
of  the  church  as  separate  from  the  state.  •^■Non-confor- 
mity with  tlie  church  established  by  law  was  accordingly 
viewed  in  the  light  of  a  civil  oflence,  if  not  treason  to  the 


55 

state,  and  deserving  of  the  severest  punishment.  "And 
in  every  country,  the  party  which  took  the  highest 
ground  on  the  subject  of  church  unity  was  the  "rnost 
intolerant  and  persecutingv^-The  church  which  suffered 
most — the  martyr  church  of  modern  times — was'  the 
Presbyterian. 

The  Englisli  constitution  was  now  revised  and  im- 
proved. On  the  subject  of  religion,  the  policy  of 
enforcing  uniformity  was  abandoned.  An  established 
church  was  to  be  retained,  but  without  compulsion  to 
attend  upon  its  worship.  Prelacy  was  recognized  as 
entitled  to  the  ecclesiastical  property  of  the  nation,  in 
England  and  Ireland,  and  Presb^-tery  in  Scotland  ;  but, 
in  both  cases,  with  toleration  to  dissenters.  In  New 
England,  Congregationalism  was  allowed  to  retain  the 
footing  which  it  had  already  secured  for  itself.  Certain 
points  of  government,  which  had  long  been  in  dispute, 
were  now  reconsidered  and  definitely  settled.  ^-  The 
ki)ig's  prerogatives  were  defined  and  limited,  and  his 
support  provided  for  by  a  regular  salary.-^  Constraint 
was  put  upon  him  to  execute  the  duties  of  his  office 
through  responsible  agents,  and  his  authority  was  to  be 
excluded  from  the  arguments  of  Parliament.  >-^, Entire 
control  of  the  public  re\-enue,  both  in  raising  and  expend- 
ing it,  was  secured  to  the  representatives  of  tlie  com. 
mons.  ^Parliaments  were  made  regular  and  triennial. 
5^The  Lords  temporal  and  spiritual  were  to  represent  their 
own  order  in  the  common  interest,  but  excluded  from  all 
voice  in  imposing  taxes  or  expending  revenue.  o^Judges 
were  no  longer  to  hold  office  under  the  royal  will,  but 
for  life,  or  good  behavior.  7As  respects  religion,  people 
were  not  to  suffer  penalties  for  non-attendance  at  the 
established  church.  While  one  denomination  was  to  be 
supported  by  law,  and  Catholics  remained  under  civil 
disabilities,  all  attempts  to  enforce  uniformity  were 
abandoned.  1^' And  censorsliip  of  the  press  was  suffered 
to  expire  without  renewal. 


57 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

PERIOD  IV.   SECTION  III.   1648  TO  1790. 

The  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  presents  one 
of  those  great  junctures  in  history,  by  which  the  pro- 
gress of  the  church  is  divided  into  periods  of  different 
characteristics.  By  the  year  1648,  Protestant  nations 
had  successful!}'  asserted  their  independence,  defined 
their  ecclesiastical  position,  and  adopted  their  authorita- 
tive symbols.  Rome,  in  reactionary  contiict,  had  aban- 
doned the  ground  of  ancient  orthodoxy,  her  defence  of 
semipelagianism,in  opposition  to  Jansen,  having  crowned 
the  work  of  Trent.  Oriental  christiaiis  of  the  so-called 
Orthodox  Catholic  Cliurch,  although  greatly  diminished 
in  number,  and  oppressed  under  Mohammedan  rule, 
Russia  alone  sustaining  the  dignity  of  an  independent 
Patriarchate,  also  produced,  about  the  same  time,  that 
confession  whereby  their  doctrinal  standing  was  finally 
declared. 

Recent  attempts  made  by  Rome  to  bring  the  Eastern 
Church  under  her  dominion  had  proved  as  fruitless  as  ail 
preceding  efibrts  of  that  kind.  The  gulf  between  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Catholic  churches  remained  as  consti- 
tuted in  the  eleventh  century.  The  issue  of  the  thirty 
years  war  had  demonstrated  that  to  hold  Romanist  and 
Protestant  under  one  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  was  not 
practicable.  More  distinctly  than  ever,  had  it  been 
determined  that  the  current  of  Church  History,  as  far  as 
those  parties  were  concerned,  was  to  flow  in  separate 
channels.  By  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  the  war  in  Ger- 
many between  Protestants  and  Romanists  was  settled 
on  the  principle  of  a  balance  of  power,  the  separate 
existence  of  Holland,  as  a  protestant  nation,  was  recog- 
nized, and  the  Reformation  in  the  Scandinavian  king- 
doms assumed  as  authoritative,  Sweden  being  one 
of  the  high  contracting  parties.  The  Papal  protest  was 
without  eftect. 

The    treaty  of  Westphalia  also    determined    funda- 
mental political  maxims  for  all   Europe,  to  which  even 


58 

parties  then  apparently  unconcerned  in  it,  or  reluctating 
against  it,  were,  in  course  of  time,  constrained  to  con- 
form. Against  the  old  ambition  of  universal  empire, 
and  of  a  universal  church,  systematic  opposition  was 
organized.  JSTo  longer  was  either  Pope  or  Emperor  to 
be  sustained  in  the  ambition  of  supremacy. 

Not  all  at  once  could  the  treaty  go  into  eifect. 
Where  Jesuits  were  strong  little  regard  was  had  for  its 
conditions.  In  Bohemia,  Silesia  and  Hungary  the  Prot- 
estant churches  were  subjected  to  many  unjust  restric- 
tions. 

In  France  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  still  in  force,  but 
ill  complied  with  on  the  part  of  the  government,  then  in 
the  hands  of  Cardinal  Mazarine,  as  regent  during  the 
minority  of  Louis  XIV.  The  Jansenist  controversy  was 
beginning  to  inlist  attention  beyond  the  bounds  of  France 
and  the  Netherlands  ;  but  the  principal  doctrines,  brought 
thereby  into  discussion,  were  already  sufficiently  defined. 
Elsewhere,  in  all  Romish  countries,  Jesuits  were  the  rul- 
ing spirits,  and  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  last  extrem- 
ity of  the  anti-reform  reaction. 

In  Holland  and  Geneva,  the  Reformed  Churches  had 
reached  the  full  day  of  prosperity.  In  England,  the 
Puritans  had  defeated  the  king,  and  were  about  to  set 
up  the  Commonwealth,  in  the  intereat  of  a  progressive 
reformation.  The  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster 
had  completed  its  work,  and  the  last  lingering  delegates 
remained  only  to  execute,  in  a  few  cases,  what  had  been 
already  enacted.  Their  Confession,  Catechisms,  Form  of 
government,  and  Directory  for  public  worship,  had  been 
accepted  in  Scotland,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ire- 
land, and,  in  all  but  the  Form  of  government,  in  New 
England  ;  and  thereby  the  definitive  statement  of 
Reformed  doctrine  was  settled  for  the  English  speaking 
people,  outside  of  the  Anglican  establishment.  A  simila*!* 
service  had  been,  at  an  earlier  day,  executed  for  the 
Reformed  Churches  on  the  continent,  and  as  a  whole,  by 
the  Synod  of  Dort ;  and  by  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  for 
the  Anglican  Church.  Lutheran  doctrines  remained  as 
determined  by  its  two  great  founders,  and  as  harmonized 
in  the  Form  of  Concord.     In  the   Greek  Church,  the 


59 

Orthodox  Confession  had  received   the    sanction    of  the"  '  l^  V-^  • 
councils  of  Kieif  and  of  Jassy.     And  eqnally  conclusive 
for  the  Romish  Church  had  been  the  work  of  the  council 
of  Trent. 

Alike  in  the  Greek,  Roman  and  Protestant  connec- 
tions, the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  espe- 
ciall}^  the  year  1648,  formed  a  momentous  crisis  in  the 
history  of  doctrine.  All  the  most  authoritative  confes- 
sions were  published  by  that  time.  The  union  of  church 
and  state  remained  in  force,  but  their  relations  were  now 
different  in  different  countries.  And  although  oppression 
was  ofien  exercised  by  the  stronger  party,  yet  the  right 
of  each  nation  to  follow  the  confession  of  its  choice  had 
been  distinctly  vindicated. 

RELATIVE    POSITIONS    OF    THE     THREE     GREAT     BRANCHES     OF 
THE    CHURCH. 

The  position  taken  by  the  Greek  Catholic  Church 
is   that    of    strict    conformity    to    the    ancient,    main- 
tained    by     unvarying     hereditary     practice,     without 
change    or    alteration,    or    addition     of    any    essential 
particular,    since     the     last    true     ecumenical     council   ..       f      l  fc 
when  the  bishops  of  both  east  and  west  met  freely  and-6«J,  Uj^r^ ^^^ 
on    equal    terms.       The    Greek   presents    itself    as    the  Cz^jt-n^J^'-'Jii^ 
unchanged  Orthodox  Catholic  Church  of  antiquity — the  (^  Ul,  ^Uf^Cs. 
only  true  church.     Rome   cannot   deny  that  alterations    r>^  ^V*?] 
have  taken  place  within  her  communion,  but  claims,  not-   *^/        J/J- 
withstanding,  to  be  the  only  true  church,  out  of  which 
there    is   no   salvation,    and  to   have  within    herself  an 
infallible  guide  to  all   truth,  over  and   above  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  a  process  of  apostolical  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment, whereby  all  the  changes  she  may  introduce  become 
as  binning  as  revelation.     The  Xestorian  and  Monophy- 
site  churches,  although  deeply  corrupted,  adhere  to  their 
ancient   characteristic  doctrines  ;    the  Nestorian   to  the 
separation  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ,  and  the  Mono- 
physites,  to   the   one  nature,  merging  the  human  in  the 
divine. 

The  Protestant  churches  hold  that  the  only  true 
christian  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  the  christian  Scrip- 
tures.    They  respect  the  practice  of  immediately   post- 


60 

apostolic  christians,  the  doctrinal  decisions  of  classical 
councils  and  the  writings  of  the  classical  fathers,  but 
accept  them  only  in  as  far  as  they  are  found  to  be  con- 
formable with  Scripture,  which  is  their  sole  standard  of 
faith  and  practice. 

All  three,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Protestant,  within 
their  own  respective  bounds,  contain  minor  divisions, 
and  dissenting  sects.  But  the  Protestant  alone,  although 
not  very  consistently,  recognizes  that  fact,  and  accepts  it 
as  a  legitimate  condition  of  the  church.  The  other  two 
deny  the  right  of  dissent,  war  against  it,  and  seek  to 
extinguish  it;  and  yet  are  constrained,  under  various 
plfeas  and  disguises,  to  indulge  or  submit  to  it. 

In  adhering  to  an  absolute  conservatism,  the  Greek 
Church  has  produced  little  for  the  historian  to  record  ; 
the  aggressive  spirit  of  Rome  presents  more,  and  more 
that  is  interesting;  but  it  is  under  the  freedom  and 
intense  activity  of  the  Protestant  communities  that  the 
richest  historical  treasures  have  been  accumulated. 

THE    ORIENTAL     CHURCHES. 

Since  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  451,  Oriental  Christi- 
anity has  been  divided  into  three  great  branches,  as 
Greek,  or  Orthodox  Catholic,  and  the  so-called  heretical 
JSlestorian  and  Monophysite  communions.  The  jurisdic- 
tion of  these  sections  is  not  everywhere  geographically 
distinct;  but,  in  the  main,  the  Orthodox  occupies  the 
eastern  countries  of  Europe  and  the  extreme  west  of 
Asia;  the  Monophysites  the  next  adjoining  portions  of 
Asia  together  with  Egypt  and  Ethiopia;  and  the  Nesto- 
rians,  the  further  east.  In  western  Asia,  however,  and 
Egypt,  they  interramify  with  each  other,  having,  in  many 
cases,  their  churches  side  by  side.  And  Patriarchs  of 
both  Orthodox  and  Monophysite  persuasion,  in  some 
countries,  exercise  their  jurisdiction  over  the  same  dis- 
trict, but  in  relation  to  separate  pastoral  charges. 

NESTORIANS. 

Of  the  twenty-five  metropolitan  sees  of  which  the 
Nestorian  Church,  at  one  time,  consisted,  with  its  mis- 
sians  in  central  Asia,  India  and  China,  only  fragments 


61 

now  remain.  The  most  importunt  is  a  population  of 
about  150,000,  who  live  on  the  great  plain  ofOroomiah, 
in  the  northwest  of  Persia,  and  among  the  adjoining 
mountains  of  Kurdistan.  There  are  also  communities 
of  them  in  the  southwest  of  India,  where  they  have 
sometimes  been  called  Syrian,  or  St.  Thomas  Christians. 
In  both  places.  Missionaries  Roman  Catholic  and  Prot- 
tant  have  recently  labored  among  them  with  some  suc- 
cess, until  they  are  now  still  further  diminished  and 
divided.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Romanists,  by 
force  of  Portuguese  arms,  constrained  a  number  of  those 
who  lived  on  the  Malabar  coast  of  India  to  submit  to  the 
Pope,  and  accept  changes  in  their  worship  and  govern- 
ment accordingly.  Those  who  lived  further  in  land, 
under  the  protection  of  native  princes,  retained  their  own 
ancient  faith.  In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
they  were  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  British  public  by 
the  Rev.  Claudius  Buchanan  who  visited  them  in  1806. 
A  nnssion  of  the  English  Church  was  soon  established 
at  Travancore.  Its  object  at  first  was  simply  to  revive 
education  and  true  scriptural  knowledge  among  the 
clergy,  and  for  many  years  it  proceeded  with  encourag- 
ing "success.  But  between  1832  and  1836,  that  method 
was  abandoned,  and  by  a  decision  of  the  metropolitan 
bishop  of  the  English  Church  in  India,  all  recognition  of 
the  Syrian  christians,  as  a  church,  was  Avithheld,  and  con- 
verts from  them  were  to  be  received  as  members  of  the 
church  of  England. 

The  remnant  of  that  ancient  people,  still  residing  on 
the  borders  of  Persia  and  Turkey  were  visited  in  the 
seventeenth  century  by  Romish  missionaries,  who  suc- 
ceeded in  converting  to  Papal  allegiance  the  ntore  south- 
ern portion  of  them,  called  Chaldean  christians.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  mountains  and  of  the  plain  of  Oroo- 
miah  retained  their  Nestorian  creed  and  church  order. 
Little  was  known  about  them  by  western  protestaiits 
until  1830.  when  they  were  visited  by  Smith  andDwight, 
of  tiie  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions.  A  mission  was  in  a  few  years  planted  on  the 
plain  of  Oroomiah.  It  was  not  designed  to  attempt  any 
change    in   the   Nestorian    order,    form    of   worship    or 


62 

ancient  creed  ;  but  to  labor  for  a  revival  of  true  practical 
piety  by  the  promotion  of  education,  scriptural  knowl- 
edge and  evangelical  influences,  to  purify  and  awaken 
the  old  christian  cliurch  of  that  denomination.  Subse- 
quently however  there  has  grown  up  among  the  ]N"estor- 
ians,  a  new  church  of  Presbyterian  character,  according 
to  the  convictions  of  the  missionaries  laboring  there. 

MONOPHYSISES. 

Of  the  Monophysites  there  are  still  three  grand  divis- 
ions, the  heads  of  which  are  Egypt,  Syria,  aiTd  Armenia, 
constituting  a  belt  of  nations  extending  from  the  south- 
ern foot  of  the  Caucasus  to  the  southern  border  of 
Ethiopia.  For  Il^ubia  and  Abyssinia  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  the  monophysite  Patriarch  of  Egypt,  who 
makes  his  residence  at  Cairo. 

The  Copts  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Egypt- 
ian population,  who  profess  Monophysite  Christianity, 
Their  number  is  given  variously.  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Fair- 
all  in  a  letter  from  Cairo,  1871,  estimates  them  at  two 
hundred  thousand.  Their  church  is  very  corrupt,  and 
has  long  ago  abandoned  the  duty  of  instruction.  The 
people  are  ignorant,  and  yet  are  said  to  be  of  superior 
intelligence  to  the  Fellahs,  their  countrymen,  who  have 
adopted  Mohammedanism,  and  who  number  about  two 
millions. 

The  second  Patriarchate  of  that  connection  is  gov- 
erned by  the  Monophysite  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  who 
resides  in  Diarbekir,  at  Amida,  or  sometimes  at  the 
monastery  of  St.  Ananias,  near  Mardin,  and  whose  rule 
extends  also  over  his  coreligionists  in  Mesopotamia,  and 
the  adjoining  desert.  His  power  is  shared  by  the  Maph- 
rian  of  Mosul,  who  formerly  vicar  of  the  Patriarch  over 
the  churches  beyond  the  Tigris,  is  still  sometimes  called 
Primate  of  the  East,  but  is  now  only  nominally  superior 
to  a  metropolitan. 

The  third  division  of  the  Monophysites  is  constituted 
by  the  peculiar  views  of  the  Armenians.  Chief  of  their 
connection  is  a  Patriarch  Catholicns,  whose  reaidence  is 
at  Etchmiadzin.  Two  other  patriarchs,  of  more  limited 
jurisdiction,  reside  respectively  at  Cis,  in  Cilicia,  and  at 


68 

Aghtaniar  in  lake  Van.  Thev  have  also  prelates  digni- 
fied by  the  title  of  Patriarch,  who  protect  the  interests 
of  their  church,  as  concerned  in  its  members  scattered 
tlirongh  the  Catholic  diocesses  of  Constantinople  and 
Jerusalem,  besides  vicariates  and  archbishoprics  in  Per- 
sia, and  Russia. 

In  point  of  intelligence,  the  Armenians  are  superior 
to  others  of  their  communion,  neither  is  their  church  so 
corrupt.  Theologically  Monophysites  differ  from  the 
Greek  Catholic  Church  in  little  save  the  dogma  touch- 
ing the  oneness  of  the  nature  in  Christ.  But  they  have 
not  adopted  the  practices  introduced  into  the  Catholic 
Church  subsequently  to  the  second  general  council  of 
Constantinople,  (554).  On  the  other  hand,  they  retain  some 
elements  of  Judaism,  as  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath 
in  addition  to  the  Lord's  da}-.  They  abstain  from  eating 
things  stran<j;'led  and  from  blood  ;  and  in  Egypt  and 
Abyssinia,  they  observe  circumcision.  The  Copts,  when 
they  baptize  a  child,  first  immerse  the  lower  part  of  the 
body,  then  up  to  the  middle,  then  entirely.  The  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  supper  is  administered  to  infants  by 
simply  applying  the  consecrated  elements  to  their  lips. 

As  among  the  Nestorians,  so  among  the  Monophy- 
sites, there  are  converts  to  the  Latin  church,  and  organi- 
zations under  Pomish  authority,  the  fruit  of  Romish  mis- 
sions. The  Latin  Patriarchate  of  Antioch,  commenced 
in  the  time  of  the  crusades,  is  still  continued,  and  con- 
stitutes its  seat  of  authority  in  Aleppo.  Jesuit  mission- 
aries, in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries,  among  the  Abys- 
sinians  failed.  More  recently,  Protestant  effort  in  that 
quarter,  has  met  with  little  more  encouragement.  Among 
the  Armenians.  Protestant  missionaries  from  England, 
from  the  United  States  and  from  the  European  continent, 
are  laboring  with  much  success. 

The  Maronites,  a  remnant  of  the  ancient  Monothelite- 
party,  have  since  the  time  of  the  crusades,  (1182),  been 
divided,  the  larger  number  having  submitted  to  the  juris- 
diction of  Rome,  They  are  tolerated  in  the  observance 
of  certain  practices  peculiar  to  themselves,  and  allowed 
to  retain  their  own  Patriarch  and  ecclesiastical  order.  A 
colleofe  at  Rome,  established   on   their  behalf,  has  been 


64 

distiiiguisbed  by  the  Assemani,  and  other  ilhistrious 
ecclesiastical  scholars,  to  whose  writings  we  are  chiefl}' 
indebted  fov  information  touching  the  Eastern  cliurches. 
The  Patriarch,  who  lives  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Mary, 
at  Karnobin,  not  far  from  Tripoli,  takes,  in  common  with 
the  Orthodox  Catholic,  the  Monophysite  and  Romish 
patriarchs,  the  title  of  Antioch;  but  the  people,  over 
whom  his  authority  extends,  are  to  be  found  principally 
in  Mount  Lebanon,  and  cities  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
is  elected  by  his  own  communion,  but  receives  the  pallium 
and  confirmation  in  office  from  the  Pope,  A  small  num- 
ber of  them  still  reject  the  connection  with  Rome,  and 
adhere  to  their  ancient  ecclesiastical  independence,  and 
peculiar  doctrine  of  the  one  will  in  Christ. 

Of  all  parts  of  the  Eastern  church  the  most  divided 
by  tlie  presence  of  conflicting  parties  are  the  sees  of 
Antioch  and  Jerusalem. 

The  several  languages  retained  in  the  liturgies,  and 
other  offices  of  the  Oriental  churclies,  are  such,  in  all 
cases,  as  are  not  now  spoken  by  the  people.  Among  the 
Greeks,  and  their  immediate  connection,  it  is  the  ancient 
Greek;  among  the  Georgians,  the  old  Georgian;  in 
Russia,  Moldavia,  Wallaciiia,  Servia,  Bosina,  Montene- 
gro, Slavonia  proper,  Dalmatia  and  Bulgaria,  although 
various  dialects  are  spoken,  it  is  the  Old  Sclavonic  which 
alone  is  used  in  Church  service.  Monophysites  retain, 
In  Egypt,  the  Coptic;  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch, 
the  old  Syriac  ;  although  the  common  idiom,  in  both 
cases,  is  the  Arabic  ;  in  Ethiopia,  tiie  old  Ethiopic,  while 
it  is  the  Amharic  which  is  spoken  ;  and  in  Armenia,  the 
old  Armenian.  The  Nestorians  of  Kurdistan  adhere  to 
the  ancient  Syriac,  A  modern  dialect  of  the  same  is 
their  vernacular.  And  the  St.  Thomas  christians  of  Mala- 
bar, although  some  of  them  have  exchanged  their  Nes- 
torian  creed  for  the  Monophysite,  and  some,  for  Roman- 
ism, still  retain  in  their  worship  and  religious  books,  the 
old  Syriac  tongue.  The  Maronities  also  read  their  pray- 
ers in  Syriac,  which  they  do  not  understand.  In  this 
view  we  also  perceive  the  predorninence  of  the  Slavic  race 
among  the  Christians  of  the  East.  Of  their  sixty-six 
millions,  or  thereby,  at  least  fifty-eight  millions  accept 


65 

tlie  old  Sclavonic  as  the  languao-e  of  their  devotions.  In 
ever}'  instance,  it  is  the  old  language,  in  which  the 
scriptures  and  liturgies  were  first  established  among  the 
people,  which  is  held  as  sacred  ;  the  idea  of  sanctity  hav- 
ing attached  to  it  as  it  became  obsolete,  and  obscure  to  the 
common  understanding.  Such  is  Hebrew  to  the  Jew, 
Latin  to  the  Romanist,  old  Arabic  to  the  Mohammedan, 
Sanscrit  to  the  Hindu,  Zend  to  the  Parsee,  and  the  learned 
system  of  the  Mandarins  to  the  Chinese.  Protestant 
cliristians  alone,  and  those  who  follow  their  example, 
emplo}'  the  vernacular  entirely  in  the  service  of  the 
^anctuarj',  preferring  an  intelligent  worship  to  a  blind 
adoration. 

THE    GREEK    CATHOLIC. 

In  the  Orthodox,  or  Greek  Catholic  church,  althougli 
Constantinople  still  enjoys  the  honor  of  precedence,  the 
most  important  diocese  is  that  of  Russia.  In  addition 
to  these,  there  are  still  the  Patriarchates  of  Alexandria, 
of  Antioch,  and  of  Jerusalem,  although  only  skeletons 
of  their  ancient  substance,  and  the  three  independent 
metropolitans  of  Cyprus,  of  Austria  and  of  Montenegro, 
together  with  the  archbishop  of  Moutot  Sinai,  and  the 
church  of  independent  Greece,  which  is  governed  by  a 
Synod.  The  metropolitan  of  Montenegro,  and  the  arch- 
bishop of  Mount  Sinai  are  merely  titular,  having  no  sub- 
ordinate bishops.  The  metropolitan  of  Cyprus  presides 
over  three  suflragans,  and  of  Austria,  over  ten.  Of  the 
Patriarchs  the  Constantinopolitan  is  at  the  head  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  metropolitans,  archbishops  and 
bishops,  The  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  presides  over 
twelve.  Those  of  Alexandria  and  of  Antioch  are  held 
to  be  chiefs  respectively  of  four  and  of  sixteen  prelates, 
who  all  rank  as  metropolitans. 

The  population,  over  which  those  authorities  extend, 
may  be  estimated  at  somewhat  more  than  sixtj^-six  mil- 
lions, of  which  at  least  fffty  millions  belong  to  Russia, 
and  of  the  rest  by  far  the  larger  part  to  the  See  of  Con- 
stantinople. 

The  Greek  church  admits  the  rank  of  the  Pope  as  a 
Patriarch,  arrd   his  primacy  in   the  West  of  Europe,  as 


66 

holding  the  only  E[:)iscopal  sec  founded  by  apostles  in 
that  quartei-;  but  condemns  his  assumption  of  headship 
and  of  universal  authority  as  unwarranted.  It  also  holds 
that  he,  and  western  Christendom  in  g-enerai,  have  long 
been  guilty  of  lieresy,  and  schism,  in  corrupting  the 
standards,  and  separating  from  the  communion  of  the 
only  Orthodox  Catholic  cljurch.  According  to  that  view, 
the  other  four  Patriarchs  are  as  truly  the  heads  respec- 
tively of  the  jurisdiction  sassigned  to  them  by  ancient 
councils.  The  higher  distinction  admitted  to  Rome  and 
to  Constantinople  is  referred  the  fact  that  those  cities 
were  the  capitals  of  the  empire.  Apostolic  foundation 
is  not  accepted  as  a  reason  for  any  special  distinction. 
Because  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and  Alexandria  are  on  the 
same  footing,  in  that  respect.  The  apostolical  connec- 
tion of  Constantinople  is  recognized  as  dae  to  Ileraclea, 
of  which  diocese  Byzantium  was  originally  a  part.  And 
in  the  true,  and  higher  sense,  all  the-  churches  were 
founded  by  the  apostles.  The  equal  independence  of  all 
the  Patriarchs  is  constantly  maintained,  and  the  rank  of 
ecumenical  is  not  alhnved  to  'any,  except  in  that  sense  in 
which  it  is  proper  to  all,  although  Constantinople  is 
is  superior  in  honor.  The  number  of  Orthodox  Patri- 
archates was,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  still,  as  deter- 
mined by  ancient  councils,  five,  Russia  having  been 
admitted  to  the  place  left  vacant  by  the  schism  of  RoTue. 
Church  government  of  the  whole  Greek  Catholic 
connection  is  synodal.  Its  highest  authority  is  the 
Synod  of  Patriarchs.  The  monarchical  system  of  Rome 
is  condemned  as  unscriptural,  the  power  of  the  keys  hav- 
ing been  committed  not  to  Peter  alone,  but  to  all  the 
apostles.  While  the  union  of  church  and  state  is  de- 
fended, they  are  each  held  to  be  sovereign  within  their 
own  sphere,  the  state  being  under  duty  to  protect  the 
church,  while  the  church  sustains  the  order  and  authority 
of  the  State.  In  Mohammedan  countries,  these  relations 
have  long  been  in  a  condition  of  great  derangement. 
They  are  most  consistently  observed  in  Russia,  and  inde- 
pendent Greece  ;  where  the  churches  are  now  governed 
by  Synods. 


67 

Each  Patriarcli  is  elected  bv  the  church,  over  which 
he  is  to  preside;  that  is  by  the  synod  of  the  diocese,  and 
approved  by  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  state.  In 
Mohammedan  countries,  the  hitter  condition  is  subject  to 
great  abuse,  not  unfrequently  involving  simony,  and.  on 
the  part  of  the  civil  ruler,  extreme  oppression. 

Unity,  in  the  Greek  church,  consists  in  recognition  of 
the  same  doctrines,  and  canons  of  ancient  councils,  the 
common  synodal  authority,  and  the  same  ibrms  of  wor- 
ship and  ceremonies.  Since  the  defection  of  Rome, 
synods  have  not  been  regarded  as  general,  but  as  authori- 
tative simply  for  the  jurisdiction  of  the  prelates  assem- 
bled in  them. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Mohamme- 
danism  prevailed  in   the  countries  which  had   belonged 
to  the  ancient  jurisdiction  of  the  oriental  churches,  ai]d 
christians,  only  a  sprinkling,  where  once  they  constituted 
the  mass  of  the  population,  were  barely  tolerated  under 
great  oppression.     A  more  recent  conquest  yielded  the  2- e-^-^L-*'--'*^  7  ^ 
Greek  churcli  a  freedom  and  a  power,  which  it  enjoyed  \,^-f^j^^^^  - 
no  where  else.     To  that  quarter  its  subsequent  history    ,.,.       ^  -^Tc** 
chiefly  belongs.     From   Russia  have   proceeded  all  the 
progressive  movements  of  modern   Greek  Catholicism,  /'^t--^^*^ 
and  by  Russia  have  the  rights  of  Greek  Christians,  in 
general,  been  defended   against  both  Mohammedan  and 
Romanist.     Every  step,  which  has  gone  to  put  the  Greek 
church  into  relations  with  the  modern  world,  has  issued 
from  that  quarter. 

From  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Russia,  in 
992,  until  1587,  the  church  in  that  country  was  governed 
by  a  Metropolitan  appointed  from  Constantinople.  At 
first  the  ecclesiastical  capital  was  Kieff.  But  after  that 
city,  in  1240,  was  captured  by  the  Monguls,  the  seat  of 
authority'  was  removed  more  than  once,  until,  in  1328,  it 
was  planted  at  Moscow,  hy  the  illustrious  Metropolitan 
St.  Peter.  Before  the  Mongul  invasion,  Russia,  although 
a  large  country,  was  but  a  small  and  unimportant  power, 
lying  chiefly  towards  the  southwest  of  her  present  terri- 
tory-. By  that  invasion  the  greater  part  of  her  people 
were  reduced  to  bondage,  and  the  fragment  of  dominion 
which  remained,  was  limited  to  the  North.     The  lona; 


68 

continuer]  wars,  whereby  the  invaders  were  gradually 
expelled,  fortified  Russian  character,  intensified  its 
nationality,  and,  over  against  the  Mohammedanism  of 
the  Tartars,  caused  the  profession  of  Christianity  to 
become  the  badge  of  loj-alty,  and  the  battle  cry  of  libera- 
tion. As  the  Moorish  occupation  of  Spain  made  Spain- 
ards  the  fiercest  champions  of  Roman  Catholicism,  so  the 
Tartar  occupation  of  Russia  was  one  important  means 
whereby  the  great  modern  defenders  of  Greek  Catholic- 
ism were  educated  for  their  work.  The  subsequent 
extension  of  their  dominion,  and  its  intimate  relations 
with  the  East,  while  holding  a  place  among  the  great 
powers  of  the  West,  have  put  them  into  position  to  wield 
a  stupendous  intiuence  for  good,  or  evil,  upon  other 
branches  of  their  ecclesiastical  connection. 

The  Monguls  were  finally  expelled  in  1481,  twenty- 
eight  years  after  the  fall  of  Constantinople.  Russians, 
now  independent,  felt  reluctant  to  accept  their  ecclesiasti- 
cal chief  from  the  subject  of  an  enemy  of  their  religion. 
And  in  order  to  avoid  embarrassment  and  indignity  the 
method  was  adopted  of  having  the  Metropolitan  of  Mos- 
cow appointed  by  a  Synod  of  bishops  within  his  own 
province,  whereby  he  was  assigned  the  anomalous  posi- 
tion of  recognizing,  as  his  superior,  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  without  being  either  appointed  or  con- 
firmed in  office  by  him.  That  irregularity,  though  tole- 
rated for  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  from 
what  seemed  to  be  the  necessity  of  the  case,  was  matter 
of  much  regret  to  the  ecclesiastics  concerned.  And  as 
Russia  increased  in  national  importance,  it  became  the 
more  desirable  that  the  church  within  her  bounds  should 
take  up  some  regular  independent  ground.  The  step 
which  followed  proceeded  at  once  from  suggestion  of  the 
Czar,  and  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  church,  and 
was  facilitated  by  the  ideaof  substituting  Russia  as  anew^ 
Patriarchate,  to  fill  the  place  left  vacant  by  the  schism 
of  Rome.  In  1587,  by  agreement  of  the  Patriarchs  of 
Constantinople  and  of  Antioch,  the  Metropolitan  of  Mos- 
cow was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  Patriarch,  on  equal  foot- 
ing with  themselves,  and  Russia  constituted  an  indepen- 
dent diocese  of  the  Greek  Catholic  Church,     The  act  was 


69 

performed  iu  a  Synod  of  all  the  Russian  bishops,  at  Mos- 
cow, under  authority  of  the  Czar  Theodore,  and  sanc- 
tioned by  the  presence  and  consent  of  Jeremiah  11. , 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 

The  next  fifty  years  beheld  some  revival  of  activity 
in  that  quarter  of  the  long  dormant  Oriental  Church. 
The  new  Patriarchate  became  a  leader  in  the  work  of 
drawing  up  those  confessions  and  books  of  doctrinal 
instruction,  which  the  changed  condition  of  tiie  world 
demanded.  Moscow  had  already  become  the  holy  city 
of  Russia;  it  was  now  the  seat  of  the  Czar  and  of  the 
Patriarch,  soon  to  be  distinguished  by  great  events  in  the 
history  ot  the  church  and  nation,  and  by  the  reputation 
of  some  of  tlieir  most  illustrious  men.  There  are  four 
great  historical  personages,  to  whom  the  modern  Russian 
Church  isespecially  indebted,  namely  Philaret,  Peter 
Mogilas,  Nikon,  and  the  Czar  Peter.  By  t'nose  names 
are  the  principal  stages  in  its  history  marked. 

Russia  has  at  several  periods  had  to  defend  herself 
against  the  overbearing  aggression  of  Romanism.  Most 
dangerous  was  the  attempt  made  from  that  quarter  in  the 
end  of  the  16th  and  early  years  of  the  17th  centuries. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  reign  of  the  good,  but  feeble 
Theodore,  and  the  deranged  state  of  the  imperial  succes- 
sion, which  followed  his  death,  Romish  priests,  from  the 
side  of  Poland,  associated  themselves  with  insurrection, 
corrupted  the  dissatisfied,  and  conspired  with  otherwise 
designing  persons,  to  bring  about  a  union  with  Rome. 
Under  management  especially  of  the  Jesuit  Possevin, 
that  process  was  clandestinely  introduced  into  the  south- 
west of  Russia.  Upon  the  death  of  Theodore,  1598,  it 
received  support  from  the  arms  of  Poland.  A  pretender 
to  the  throne  accepted  the  union,  and  was  carried  to  the 
Kremlin  of  Moscow  by  force.  He  was  soon  slain.  But 
the  Poles  held  their  ground,  added  to  their  troops,  took 
possession  of  Moscow,  and  set  up  the  Romish  forms  of 
worship  in  its  holiest  places.  It  was  then  that  the  monks 
of  the  Troitza  Lavra  (Monastery  of  the  Trinity)  made 
that  illustrious  defence  of  their  stronghold,  and  raised 
that  voice  of  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  their  country- 
men, whereby  they  rolled  back  the  tide  of  invasion  from 
their  borders. 


70 

Theodore  Konianotf,  nearest  heir  to  the  throne,  on 
the  termination  of  the  lineal  descent  of  Ruric,  had  been 
compelled  by  the  nsurper  to  go  into  a  monaster^',  and 
was  then  a  monk  under  the  name  of  Philaret.  His  son 
Michael  was  confined  in  another  religious  house.  Upon 
the  close  of  the  fierce  and  bloody  conflict,  the  priests,  who 
had  fairly  earned  a  right  to  have  their  wishes  consulted, 
aftectionately  turned  their  eyes  to  the  son  of  their  noble 
brother  Philaret.  The  nobles  could  present  no  other 
candidate  for  the  crown  with  so  good  a  claim.  Accord- 
ingly, Michael  Romanoff  commenced  the  new  imperial 
dynasty,  on  the  basis  of  defence  of  the  Orthodox  Catho- 
lic Church,  and  opposition  to  Uniates  and  Romanists. 
He  ascended  the  throne  in  1613.  His  father  w^as  liberated 
from  captivity  to  become  Patriarch  of  Russia.  That 
ecclesiastical  dignity  was  thereby  greatly  enhanced  and 
the  privileges  of  the  office  extended,  to  a  degree  not  pre- 
viously yielded  in  the  Greek  Church. 

Long  protracted  disorders  continued  to  harass  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  country  through  uniate  plots, 
and  usurpations  sustained  by  Romish  authorities  fron:i 
Poland,  which  in  those  days  incurred  a  debt  of  violence 
and  aggression,  subsequently  well  repaid. 

Within  the  same  period,  the  wildernesses  of  Siberia 
were  first  occupied  by  Russian  arms.  The  church- fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  conquest.  In  1623,  Philaret 
established  the  archbishopric  of  Tobolsk  and  Siberia,  as 
a  means  of  organizing  missionary  effort,  and  of  reforming 
the  morals  of  the  Cassacks,  who  although  the  pioneers 
of  nominal  Christianity,  were  as  lawless  as  the  heathen 
they  subdued.  Philaret  died  in  1631.  His  successors, 
Joasaph  and  Joseph,  1631  to  1653,  did  little  worth  men- 
tioning;  but  during  their  reigns,  important  steps  were 
taken  in  promoting  education,  and  expounding  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Greek  church.  It  was  in  the  year  1632  that 
Peter  Mogilas,  the  most  learned  Russian  ecclesiastic  of 
his  day,  was  elevated  to  the  metropolitan  see  of  Kieff". 
His  efforts  for  education  were  commenced  in  his  monast- 
ery, where  he  founded  a  school,  and  from  which  he  per- 
suaded several  of  his  most  promising  scholars  to  go  to 


71 

obtained  from  the  King  of  Poland,  under  wl^jose  domin- 
ion his  province  then  hij.  the  "  restoration  of  many  con- 
verts, churches,  and  properties,  which  had  been  taken 
away  from  the  Orthodox,  together  v;ith  freedom  to 
establish  seminaries  and  schools  and  printing  presses," 
and  other  privileges  for  the  Russian  Church.  His  con- 
vent school  he  enlarged  into  a  college,  amtexing  to  it  a 
preparatory  school  and  erecting  buildings  for^the  accom- 
modation of  poor  students  at  his  own  expense.  He  also 
collected  a  library,  and  set  up  a  printing  press,  from 
which  he  issued  editions  of  the  Greek  Fathers  and  books 
of  the  service  of  the  church,  to  counteract  tlie  eftbrts  of 
Romanists,  which  were  especially  active  in  that  quarter. 
His  Trebnik,  or  office  Book,  became  the  model  for  per- 
formance of  the  Orthodox  service.  And,  if  nottiie  most 
important,  at  least  the  most  celebrated  act  of  his  life  was 
the  "Orthodox  Confession,"  written  by  himself,  or  under 
his  direction.  A  council  of  bishops  was  called  in  Kieff 
to  revise  it.  iVfter  passing  through  their  corrections,  it 
was  translated  into  Modern  Greek,  and  sent  to  Parthe- 
nius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  In  1643,  a  Synod, 
convoked  at  Jassy.  condemned  the  doctrines  of  Calvin, 
and  at  the  instance  of  Parthenius,  revised  and  approved 
the  Orthodox  Confession,  which  was  then  sent  to  the 
otlier  Oriental  Patriarchs,  wlio  gave  it  their  confirma- 
tion, and  returned  it  with  letters  of  ajiproval  to  Kietf. 

Peter  Mogilas  died  in  1647.  His  work  was  per- 
formed, in  the  first  instance,  for  the  Greek  church  of 
Little  Russia,  then  under  the  rule  of  Poland;  but  in  it 
he  had  also  a  view  to  the  wider  dominion  of  the  Czar,  if 
not  to  the  whole  Oriental  communion,  to  which  an 
important  part  of  it  necessarily  extended.  Formally  by 
its  proper  authorities  the  whole  Greek  Catholic  Church 
accepted  the  confession  ;  but  only  in  Russia  was  it  pro- 
ductive of  any  vital  action,  or  did  it  lead  to  any  further 
efforts  for  popular  instruction. 

In  '1645,  the  Czar  Michael  died,  and  was  succeeded 
on  the  throne  by  his  son  Alexis,  whose  ambition  it  was 
to  be  the  Justinian  of  his  nation.  His  reign  commenced 
with  reform  of  the  laws.  A  commission  was  appointed, 
with  Prince  N'iketa  Odoefsky,  the  most  illustrious  lawyer 


of  Russia,  at  its  head,  to  make  a  collection  of  tlie  canons 
of  the  ancient  Fathers,  and  laws  of  the  Greek  emperors, 
to  correct  the,statnte  book  of  the  Czar  John,  and  to  add 
thereto  the  Ukases  of  later  Czars,  and  to  harmonize  all 
into  one  code  for  the  whole  empire.  By  the  end  of  the 
year,  the  worknvas  complete,  and  received  the  blessing 
of  the  Patriarch  and  was  signed  by  the  clergy,  the  boy- 
ars,  and  people  of  all  ranks.  As  in  the  labors  -of 
Philaret,  the  church  had  intei-twined  lier  jurisdiction 
with  that  of  tlie  state;  so,  in  this  revision  of  the  laws, 
the  state  extended  lier  authority  to  embrace  the  church. 
Thereby,  a  mors  intimate  connection  was  established 
between  the  two  than  in  any  other  diocese  of  the  Oriental 
Catholic  communion. 

In  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  1649,  Alexis  was  tirst 
made  acquainted  with  the  merits  of  the  monk  Nikon, 
who  had  come  to  the  capital  to  plead  the  wants  of  his 
fraternity.  Such  a  man  could  not  be  allowed  to  return 
to  seclusion.  He  was  retained  at  Moscow,  and  presented 
with  the  Novospasky  monastery,  where  reposed  the  bones 
of  the  Czar>  ancestors.  He  was  admitted  to  the  coun- 
cils, and  the  intimate  friendship  of  his  monarch  ;  and  foi' 
many  years  the  policy  of  the  nation  was  swayed  by  his 
advice.  In  1653,  he  was  was  raised  to  the  place  of  Patri- 
arch, which  he  retained  six  years.  Throngli  the  suppojt 
of  Alexis,  and  his  own  transcendent  abilities,  Nikon,  in 
that  brief  term  of  office,  carried  the  Russian  Primacy  to 
the  highest  pitch  of  authority,  and  instituted  reforms  of 
long  persistent  abuses,  which  as  reforms  would  have  been 
better  understood,  and  of  longer  duration,  had  not  the 
jealousy  and  misrepresentation  of  enemies  interposed. 
Means  were  secured  of  withdrawing  from  him  the  favor 
of  the  Czar.  Too  hastily,  in  a  fit  of  indignation'  he 
resigned  his  office,  and  therebj'  stripped  himself  of  the 
power  necessary  to  give  his  improvements  effect.  That 
one  false  step  his  enemies  took  care  he  should  never  have 
the  opportunity  of  retracing.  To  the  end  of  his  days, 
he  was  confined  in  a  monastery. 

The  most  useful  work  which  Nikon  effected  was  the 
correction  of  the  church  books,  which,  in  the  long  course 
of  centuries,  when  they  were  copied  by  hand,  had  become 


corrupted  by  the  ignorance  and  oversight  of  copyists. 
Many  of  those  corrnptions  had  been  retained  in  the 
printed  editions,  and  errors  of  the  press  had  increased 
the  evil,  and  some  had  been  introduced  by  heretical 
design.  In  the  face  of  much  opposition,  he  proceeded 
with  correction  of  his  new  editions,  by  the  old  Sclavonic 
and  Greek  manuscripts.  From  various  quarters  collec- 
tions were  made  of  the  most  ancient  manuscripts  of  the 
sacred  books.  One  messenger,  sent  to  Mount  Athos, 
collected  as  many  as  .live  hundred  Greek  books,  among 
which  was  a  coi)y  of  the  Gospels,  written  1050  years 
before.  The  eastern  Patriarchs  added  200  more  similar 
manuscripts.  Upon  introducing  his  corrected  books  into 
the  churches  he  encountered  opposition  from  the  multi- 
tude who  took  his  restoration  of  the  ancient  for  novelty. 

I^ikon  also  put  restraint  upon  the  evil  practices  of 
the  clergy,  especially  the  prevalent  one  of  intemperance, 
and  upon  errors  in  church  service,  and  went  so  far  as  to 
remove  from  sight  all  such  pictures  as  he  thought  were 
objects  of  undue  veneration.  He  did  much  to  promote 
education,  had  Greek'  and  Latin  introduced  into  the 
schools,  improved  the  style  of  church  music,  and  pro- 
cured the  means  for  publishing  the  Sclavonic  translation 
of  the  Bible  in  its  purity.  He  was  also  the  first  to  break 
through  and  take  steps  to  do  away  with  the  oriental 
seclusion  of  women,  which  had  hitherto  prevailed.  And 
he  revived  by  precept,  and  in  his  own  ministrations,  the 
practice  of  preaching,  which  had  in  the  Greek  Church 
been  utterly  neglected,  for  centuries. 

During  his  administration  large  addition  was  made  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Russian  Patriarchate  by  annexa- 
tion of  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine.  Steps  were  taken 
by  him  also  towards  the  transfer  of  the  metropolitan  sec 
of  Kieflf  from  the  connection  with  Constantinople,  to 
that  of  Moscow,  which  was  effected,  though  not  in  his 
day. 

The  deposition  of  ZsTikon  occurred  in  1667,  his  death 
in  1681.  His  successors  in  the  Primacy  originated  noth- 
ing of  importance.  Upon  the  death  of  the  Czar  Theo- 
dore, next  year,  the  country  was  plunged  into  a  state  of 
disorder  and  agitation.     The  young  Prince  Peter,  a  boy 


74 

of  ten  years  of  age,  was  procl-aim^d  iti  preference  to  John, 
his  elder  brother,  on  the  ground  that  the  hitter  was 
incapacitated  by  imbecility.  Peter  continued  to  pursue 
his  studies  with  uncommon  zeal  and  success  under  direc- 
tion of  the  Patriarch  Joachim,  by  whose  aid  he  also 
defeated  the  ambition  of  his  sister  Sophia,  and  the  muti- 
nous Streltzi,  or  imperial  guards.  When  he  was  still 
only  18  years  of  age,  his  friend  and  guardian  Joachim 
died.  Peter  thus  early  thrown  upon  his  own  judgment, 
began  his  reign 'by  making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
resources,  and  wants  of  his  country,  fully  purposed  to 
develop  the  one  and  supply  the  other,  by  every  means 
which  he  possessed,  or  could  command,  whether  at  home, 
or  from  abroad.  His  reforms  were  more  thorough  than 
those  of  Nikon,  and  sustained  by  a  weight  of  authority 
which  the  enterprising  ecclesiastic  never  possessed.  The 
Patriarch  Adrian  was  old  and  feeble.  But  the  Czar 
found  cordial  support  from  other  eminent  churchmen, 
especially  from  Stephen  Yavorsky,  preacher  in  KiefF. 

After  the  capture  of  Azoff'  had  given  weight  to  his 
reputation,  and  the  death  of  his  brother  John  in  1696, 
had  left  him  sole  Czar,  Peter  determined  to  enlarge  his 
intellectual  stores  by  foreign  travel.  In  the  suite  of  an 
embassy,  in  which  his  preceptor  appeared  as  the  princi- 
pal, he  visited  Holland,  France,  England  and  Germany, 
studying  carefully  the  elements  of  their  culture  and  pros- 
perity. From  Vienna  he  was  called  home  by  another 
mutiny  of  the  Streltzi.  His  career  of  reform  opened  in 
the  effective  punishment  of  that  refractory  militia.  Some 
of  them  he  condemned  to  death,  the  rest  he  dispersed  in 
far  distant  places,  utterly  extinguishing  their  organiza- 
tion. He  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  purpose  to  bring 
the  manners  and  customs,  government  and  life  of  Russia 
as  near  as  possible  into  conformity  with  those  of  the  west 
of  Europe.  That  sweeping  reform  which  stooped  to  pre- 
scribe the  cut  of  their  dress  for  his  people,  could  not 
overlook  the  state  of  the  church.  Many  things  were 
held  too  sacred  to  be  touched,  but  others,  at  variance 
with  ancient  practice,  or  Greek  principle,  coidd  be 
altered,  or  removed  without  serious  opposition,  and  some, 
which  had  crept  in  from  the  western  church,  were  the 
most  obnoxious,  and  could  be  the  most  easily  exposed. 


75 

When  Peter  came  to  the  throne  he  found  that  ab^^o- 
lute  as  was  his  power,  in  theory,  it  was  actually 
divided  with  the  clergy.  By  the  steps  of  a  process 
already  indicated,  the  Patriarchate,  had  almost  for- 
saken its  Byzantine  ground  and  approximated  to  the 
papal.  Nothing  stood  more  in  the  way  of  the  imperial 
reformer.  Upon  the  death  of  Adrian,  who  protested 
against  every  innovation  to  the  last,  when  the  bishops 
assembled  to  elect  a  successor,  the  Czar  appeared  among 
them,  and  dismissed  them  with  the  statement  that  such 
action  was  not  necessary  at  that  time.  iStephen  Yavorsky 
was  appointed  guardian  of  the  church,  with  provisional 
oversight  of  its  affaii-s.  The  Patriarchal  court  was  closed, 
and  all  its  business  transferred  to  the  civil  courts,  except 
purely  ecclesiastical  matters,  which  were  subjected  to  a 
monastery  court,  now  constituted  with  powers  defined 
expressly  for  that  purpose.  At  the  same  time  all 
attempts  to  interfere  with  the  orthodox  doctrine,  or 
established  practice  of  the  church  were  severely  repressed, 
whether  made  from  the  side  of  the  Roman  or  the  Prot- 
tant. 

Twenty  years  did  Peter  keep  the  supreme  government 
of  the  church  in  susper.se,  until  a  generation  had  grown 
up  without  the  inner  allegiance  to  an  ecclesiastical  sov- 
ereign. At  the  end  of  that  time,  he  suggested  that  only 
a  synodal  administration  was  capable  of  answering  the 
wants  of  the  church.  He  did  not  immediately  press  that 
view.  But  it  was  consistent  with  the  plan  of  supreme 
government  in  the  Greek  Church.  Finally  it  was  sub- 
mitted to  a  council  called  in  St.  Petersburg,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1721,  and  after  discussion,  accepted. 
The  new  constitution  was  approved  by  the  highest  in  the 
land,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical.  Subsequently  it  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  East,  as 
communicated  in  a  letter  from  Constantinople  dated 
September  23,  1723.  Ever  since,  the  Church  of  Russia 
has  been  presided  over  by  the  Holy  Governing  Synod, 
which  occupies  the  place  of  a  Patriarch. 

The  Russian  empire  is  divided  into  dioceses,  called 
eparchies,  which  in  extent  and  number  are  nearly  the 
same  with  the  civil  divisions  into  sixty-four  provinces. 


76 

In  these  there  are  four  hundred  and  eighty-three  cathe- 
drals and  twenty- six  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  churches,  many  of  which  are  magnificent  buildings. 

Russian  clergy  are  of  two  classes,  distinguished  by 
the  names  white  and  black,  the  former  being  the  secular, 
or  parish  priests,  and  the  latter  the  regulars,  or  moid<s. 
From  the  monasteries  are  all  the  higher  dignitaries  of 
the  church  elected.  To  the  white  belong  the  humbler 
ranks  of  presbj'ters,  super-deacons,  deacons  and  sub- 
deacons.  The  superior  clergy,  that  is,  the  metropolitans, 
archbishops  and  bishops,  called  in  common,  Archires, 
are  almost  all  equally  authoritative  within  their  respect- 
ive sees.  Next  to  them  in  rank  stand  the  heads  of  the 
monasteries,  and  the  black  clergy  under  their  rule  ;  and 
on  an  humbler  level  are  the  white,  or  secular  clergy,  to 
whom  no  promotion  to  the  higher  ranks  lies  open. 

The  Greek  Church,  like  the  Eoman  and  Protestant, 
entered  upon  the  second  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
with  her  doctrinal  symbols  fully  matured.  She  does  not, 
however,  make  the  letter  of  modern  confession  obligatory 
upon  the  consciences  of  her  people.  The  Creed,  that  is, 
the  Nicene  Creed  as  revised  and  enlarged  at  Constanti- 
nople and  confirmed  at  Chalcedon,  is  her  only  doctrinal 
test.  That  symbol  is  retained  in  its  purity,  without  the 
Latin  interpolation  touching  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  No  oath  or  subscription  to  the  Confession  or 
Articles  of  Bethlehem  is  required  of  the  clergy.  Security 
against  error  is  sought  by  maintaining  a  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  ancient  traditional  teaching  of  the  church  ; 
and  in  opposing  to  gainsayers,  in  case  of  necessity,  the 
terrors  of  excommunication.  The  modern  confessions 
are  esteemed  only  as  concisely  expressing  the  meaning 
of  the  ancient  authorities,  in  relation  to  the  views  of  the 
modern  world.  Catechisms  and  other  books  for  minis- 
terial and  popular  instruction  have  also  been  produced 
in  Russia,  within  recent  times. 

The  ritual  is,  in  the  main,  the  same  as  that  which 
existed  before  the  schism  of  Rome.  In  the  number  of 
sacraments  {{JLoar^rna]  alone  does  the  Greek  Church 
admit  that  she  has  followed  the  example  of  the  Latin  ; 
but  not  in  their  characteristics  and  manner  of  administer- 


ing  them.  Baptism  they  administer  by  iinraersioii,  or 
by  trine  affusion  in  the  name  ol"  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 
grant  it  to  infants,  whom  they  also  admit  to  confirmation 
and  the  Eucharist.  Holy  unction  with  oil  they  apply, 
not  in  vievv  of  death,  but  as  the  first  means  of  healing-  to 
the  sick.  The  Eucharist  is  administered  by  mingling  the 
bread  with  the  wine,  and  giving  it  to  the  communi'cant 
in  a  spoon,  as  the  very  body  "and  blood  of  the  Lord 
united.  Secular  clergy  are  admitted  to  the  sacrament  of 
marriage,  but  only  once.  If  a  priest's  wife  dies,  he  is 
expected  to  go  into  a  monastery;  if  he  marries  a  second 
time,  he  renounces  the  ministry.  In  confirmation,  they 
anoint  with  oil,  and  believe  "that  in  it  the  candidate 
"  receives  a  grace  of  spiritual  growth  and  strength."  In 
Penitence,  they  teach  that  "  he,  who  confesses  his  sins, 
is,  on  the  outward  declaration  of  the  priest,  inwardly 
loosed  from  his  sins  by  Jesus  Christ  himself"  And  in 
Orders,  that  "the  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
bishop's  hands,  ordains  them,  that  be  rightly  chosen,  to 
minister  sacraments,  and  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ." 

Pictures  are  used  in  their  churches,  and  worshipped 
with  that  degre^e  of  worship  defined  and  sanctioned  by 
the  Second  Council  of  Nice,  if  the  worshipper  knows 
anything  about  the  distinction,  or  is  capable  of  making 
it. 

The  service  of  the  Greek  church  is  burdened  with 
liturgical  forms,  with  manifold  repetitions,  and  readings 
tediously  prolonged. 

I^owhere  else  is  the  official  character  of  ecclesiastics 
more  distinctly  separated  from  that  of  the  individual. 
The  effect  has  not  been  favorable  to  spiritual  religion  or 
morality.  Formal  connection  with  the  church,  and  com- 
pliance with  its  observances  are  held  to  constitute  a  full 
title  to  the  favor  of  God.  Accordingly  nothing  can  be 
changed,  to  accommodate  any  plan  of  union  with  either 
Romanist  or  Protestant. 

THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH,    FROM    1648    TO    1774. 

The  Latin  Church  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  deeply  agitated  by  a  controversy  within  her 
own    bounds,  involving  a   conflict  between   her  ancient 


^V 


78 

standards  and  her  ablest  defenders.  A  book  published, 
^^  ,  ixr.  r^ -  ^"  ^588,  by  Louis  Molina,  a  Spanish  Jesuit,  and  Professor 
of  Theology  at  Ebora,  on  the  "Concord  of  Grace  and 
Freewill,"  was  received  with  favor  by  the  order  to  wliich 
its  author  belonged.  Its  Pelagianisin  was  encountorcMl 
by  the  Dominicans  and  a  controversy  arose  on  that  point. 
Pope  Clement  YITI.  convoked,'1597,  a  council  of  divines, 
called  the  Congregatio  de  AaxilUs,  to  examine  the  subject, 
and  reconcile  the  two  powerful  orders  by  ado[»ting  forms 
of  statement  satisfactory  to  both.  At  the  end  of  ten  years 
and  after  censuring  some  propositions  of  Molina  as  Pela- 
gian or  Semi-Pelagian,  they  dispersed,  without  announc- 
ing the  result  of  their  deliberations.  The  Pope,  Paul  V., 
promised  togivehis  decision  at  a  convenientseason,  which 
never  arrived.  Pelagianism  was  neither  condemned,  nor 
expressly  accepted  by  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  the  con- 
troversy, though  forbidden,  could  not  be  stayed.  At  the 
end  of  about  forty  years,  it  was  quickened  to  greater 
activity,  and  took  a  more  definite  form,  in  relation  to  the 
writings  of  Cornelius  Jansen,  Bishop  of  Ypres,  and  of 
Jean  du  Vergier  de  Plauranne,  Abbot  of  St.  Cyran. 
Jansen,  who  had  spent  his  life  in  the  study  of  Augustine, 
deft,  at  his  death,  a  large  work  under  the  name  of 
Augustinus,  devoted  to  the  restoration  of  tlic  theology  of 
the  great  Latin  Father  of  that  name.  The  work  was 
published  in  1640,  in  three  folio  volumes.  DeHauranne 
produced  a  work  of  similar  extent  and  purpose  on  the 
system  of  Catholic  discipline,  which  he  called  Fetrus 
Aurelius.  It  was  "  approved  by  the  assembly  of  the 
French  clergy  in  1642,"  and  printed  at  their  expense. 
Both  those  learned  works  sustained  Augustinianism  as 
the  true  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  Jesuits  assailed  the  Augustmus^-dnd,  in  1642  pro- 
cured its  prohibition  by  the  Pope.  Its  author  had  died 
in  1638,  and  Hauraune  w^as  now  in  prison  and  near  bis 
end  ;  but  other  champions  of  the  cause  arose,  among 
whom  the  most  eminent  were  Antony  Arnauld,  a  learned 
doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  Le  Maistre  de  Sacy,  Nicole,  Til- 
lemont  and  Pascal. 

At  Port  Royal,  eighteen  miles  from  Paris,  stood  a  con- 
vent founded  in  the  thirteenth  centurv.    In  1625  the  nuns 


were  removed  to  another  house  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris. 
Their  new  residence  was  called  Port-Royal  de  Paris,  and 
that  which  they  had  left,  Port-Royal  des  Champs.  When 
the  latter  was  abandoned  by  the  nuns,  it  was  occupied  by 
certain  orentlemen,  who  sought  a  retreat  from  the  world 
in  order  to  devote  their  lives,  to  christian  studies,  works 
of  benevolence,  and  devotion.  They  were  known  as  the 
rechises  of  Port-Royal.  Thither  retired  Arnauld, 
Nicole,  Le  Maistre  and  oti;ers,  the  greatest  defenders  of 
Jansejiism,  and  advocates  of  Augustinian  theolog}-.  And 
Port-Royal  iti  the  country  became  the  citadel  of  the 
Jansenists  in  their  protracted  warfare  withthe  Jesuits. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
much  relaxed  discipline  of  Port-Royal  had  been  reformed 
by  the  young  abbess,  Angelica  Arnauld.  A  revival  of 
piety  had  followed  in  the  nunnery,  and  extended  to  other 
monasteries.  About  the  same  tinie  a  few  pious  clergy- 
men, among  whom  St.  Cyran  stood  eminent,  had  begun 
to  work  a  similar  influence  upon  many  persons  among 
the  populace  of  Paris,  northern  France  and  the  Nether- 
lands. The  Petriis  Aureluis  and  Augustiniis  were  theologi- 
cal effects  of  tliat  revival.  They  now  stood  as  fortresses 
in  its  defence,  against  Jesuit  attack.  And  the  subjects 
of  the  religious  revival  constituted  the  public  which  sus- 
tained the  Janseuist  Theologians. 

On  the  first  of  July,  1649,  Nicolas  Cornet,  Syndic  of 
the  Faculty  of  Theology,  laid  before  the  Sorbonne  seven 
heretical  propositions,  subsequently  reduced  to  five, 
which  he  affirmed  to  be  contained  in  the  Augustinus. 
From  that  date,  the  debate  assumed  proportions  to  alarm 
and  agitate  the  whole  Romish  Church. 

The  five  propositions  were  condemned  as  heretical  by 
a  constitution  of  Innocent  X..  issued  May  31,  1653.  It 
was  denied  by  the  Jansenists  that  those  propositions  were 
to  be  found  in  the  Augustinus,  in  the  sense  thus  con- 
demned. The  Pope  asserted  that  he  condemned  them 
as  being  "  of  Jansen,  and  in  the  sense  of  Jansen." 

For  maintaining  what  the  Pope  had  thus  condemned, 
Antony  Arnauld  was  censured  by  the  Sorbonne,  and 
deprived  of  his  doctorate.  "  In  the  course  of  two  years, 
more  than    sixtv  doctors   of  the   Sorbonne  w^ere  ejected 


80 

from  that  boclj',  for  refusing  to  set  their  names  to  tliat 
act,  which  they  considered  one  of  the  grossest  injustice." 

It  was  during  that  trial  of  Arnauld  that  the  first  of 
the  Provincial  Letters  appeared.  "  Blaise  Pascal  was  at 
this  time  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  inti- 
mately connected,  not  only  with  Arnauld,  but  with 
Nicole,  Lemaistre,  Lemaistre  de  Sacy,  and  the  rest  of 
the  recluses  at  Port-Royal  des  CMiamps."  "He  was  the 
first  to  arouse  public  attention  and  excite  public  horror, 
by  dragging  out  from  the  enormous  and  countless  vol- 
umes of  the  casuists  the  depths  of  iniquity"  which  the 
Jesuits  recognized  and  allowed.  '•  The  fury  which  those 
letters  excited  in  the  Universities  is  scarcely  to  be 
described.  The  writer  was  beyond  their  reach,  but  their 
vengeance  might  be  wreaked  on  Port-Royal." 

A  portion  of  the  nuns  had  returned  to  the  country 
convent  under  the  Abbess  Angelica  in  1648,  and  the 
recluses  had  "  retired  to  a  place  called  Les  Granges,  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood."  They  were  all  alike  held 
by  their  enemies  to  be  guilty  of  Augustinian  doctrine; 
whereas  Molinism  was  the  professed  creed  of  the  Jesuits. 

Pope  Alexander  VII.  maintained  the  ground  taken 
by  his  predecessor,  in  the  controversy,  by  a  brief  issued 
in  1656.  The  Church  of  France  accpted  the  brief,  and 
framed  a  formula  accordingly,  which  was  to  be  "  signed 
by  all  candidates  for  ecclesiastical  preferment."  Thus,  in 
1657,  the  Gallican  Church  with  the  Papacy  was  enlisted 
on  the  side  of  the  Jesuits,  against  the  Jansenists,  although 
"  the  promulgation  of  the  formula  was  deferred  till 
1661."  All  who  refused  to  sign  the  Formulary  were 
subjected  to  persecution.  "The  Bastille  was  crouded 
with  Jansenists  ;"  seventy-five  persons  were  carried  from 
Port-Royal.  Angelica  Arnauld  died  August  6th,  1661, 
and  her  sister  Agnes,  succeeding  as  Abbess,  adhered  to 
the  same  doctrine.  Port-Royal  at  Paris  was  put  into 
possession  of  parties  who  signed  the  Formulary. 

Upon  the  succession  of  Clement  IX.  to  the  Papal 
chair,  in  1667  a  reconciliation  was  effected  by  the  "  con- 
cordat which  is  known  as  the  Pacification  of  Clement 
IX,"  granted  Jan.  19,  1669.  "  The  recluses  of  Port- 
Royal  had  now  liberty  to  return  to  their  favorite  retreat; 


81 

and  there  tliey  occupied  themselves  with  those  works 
which  have  rendered  their  names  immortal.'*  The  next 
twenty-live  years  were  the  most  productive  period  of 
their  history. 

The  controversy  re-opened  in  1696,  in  reference  to  the 
Moral  Reflections  on  the  New  Testament  by  Paschasius 
Quesnel,  which  had  recently  appeared  ;  and  on  the  whole 
breadth  of  dispute  in  1703,  by  the  action  of  Clement  XL, 
in  issuing  a  Bull  "  renewing  all  the  doctrines  of  the  For- 
mulary, and  making  no  account  whatever  of  the  Pacifi- 
cation of  Clement  IX.  The  General  Assembly  of  the 
French  clergy  received  the  Bull,"  and  the  Pope,  thus  sus- 
tained, issued  on  July  13,  1708  his  condemnation  of  the 
Moral  Reflecti(Mis,  "  as  infected  with  Jansenian  heresy." 

It  was  now  the  purpose  of  its  opponents  to  utterly 
destroy  Jansenism.  Port-Royal  in  the  country  had  been 
the  residence  of  a  number  of  the  most  learned  and  gifted 
of  that  persuasion.  A  Papal  Bull  ordered  tlie  suppres- 
sion of  the  convent.  In  1709  the  residents  were  dispersed 
and  consigned  to  separate  prisons.  Everything  belong- 
ing to  it,  worth  removal,  was  transferred  to  Port-Royal 
at  Paris.  The  buildings  were  then  demolished,  1710, 
and  subsequently,  1712,  the  dead  bodies  were  turned  out 
of  their  graves  and  thrown  into  a  pit  in  one  indiscrimi- 
nate mass.  Thus  fell  Port-Royal,  a  serious  disaster  to 
Jansenistsin  France, and  a  corresponding  triumph  to  their 
Jesuit  foes.  The  spirit  of  Port-Royal  however  did  not 
die.  It  still  lives,  in  the  writings  and  influence  of  its 
illustrious  men  and  women. 

Other  blows  continued  to  be  inflicted  upon  Jansenism 
through  Papal  agency,  which  was  in  those  times  gener- 
ally controlled  by  the  Jesuits.  On  September  8,  1713, 
appeared  the  famous  constitution  Unigenitus,  in  which  one 
hundred  and  one  propositions  extracted  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Quesnel  were  condemned.  That  act  was  soon 
found  to  be  extreme.  Only  twelve  of  the  propositions 
could  be  proved  heretical.  In  some  of  them  the  error 
was  on  the  side  of  the  men  who  condemned  them,  in 
others,  a  meaning  was  imputed  which  Jansenism  did  not 
justify,  and  Clement  himself  thought  twelve  of  the  rest 
not  worthy  of  censure.     The  Constitution,  notwithstand- 


82 

iiig,  condemned  the  whole  one  hundred  and  one  in  the 
lump.  It  was  accordingly  disapproved  of  as  unjust,  by 
many  persons,  who  had  no  predelictions  for  Jansenism  ; 
and  for  years  France  was  distracted  by  the  disputes 
between  those  who  opposed,  and  those  who  defended  it. 
The  latter  ultimately  prevailed,  and  in  1730,  the  Consti- 
tution Unigemtus  became  a  law  of  France. 

Another  severe  blow  fell  upon  Jansenism  from  a  dif- 
ferent quarter.  In  1727,  Francis  Paris,  a  deacon  of  holy 
life,  and  of  some  reputation  among  the  opposers  of  the 
Umgeniius,  was  buried  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Medard. 
"  It  soon  began  to  be  reported  that  miracles  were  per- 
formed at  his  tomb."  Multitudes  of  people  resorted 
thither.  They  became  excited  with  expectation  and  the 
recital  of  the  wonders  which  many  believed  they  had  seen. 
Some  fell  into  convulsions,  foamed  at  the  mouth,  tore 
their  hair  and  their  clothes,  groaned,  sobbed,  or  were 
struck  down,  as  they  thought,  by  an  invisible  power. 
The  fanaticism  became  alarming;  and  the  king  ordered 
the  cemetery  to  be  closed.  But  the  evil  was  not  stayed  ; 
convulsionists  appeared  all  over  the  country,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  wildest  extremes.  And  more  than  once 
the  spectacle  was  presented  of  a  person  submitting  to  be 
crucified.  This  was  as  late  as  1758.  By  the  connection 
of  these  extravagances  with  its  name,  was  Jansenism 
more  injured  than  by  all  the  attacks  of  its  outside  ene- 
mies. The  subsequent  history  of  the  party  in  France 
has  not  been  insignificant,  but  comparatively  obscure. 
It  might  be  called  the  low  church  Catholic,  and  retains 
its  own  distinctive  marks.  In  Holland,  with  the  Bishop 
of  Utrecht  as  leader,  it  has  maintained  a  more  consisteiit 
life.  On  the  basis  of  opposition  to  the  Unigeniius,  it  became 
separated  from  Rome,  and  so  stands  to  the   present  day. 

QUIETISM. 

Mysticism,  which  had  increased  in  the  course  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  found  in  the  sixteenth,  its  most  congenial 
element  in  the  evangelical  part  of  the  Reformation. 
Still  there  were  some  of  those  devotional  spirits  who 
adhered  to  the  Catholic  Church,  who  loved  its  forms  of 


1f^ 


-Oh 


83 

worship,  and  venerated  its  traditions,  and  in  the  midst, 
sometimes,  of  much  obloquy,  and  suspicion  of  protest- 
antism, pursued  their  pious  meditations.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  that  class  was  honorably 
represented  by  Francis  de  Sales,  nominally  Bishop  of 
Geneva,  and  author  of"  Philothea,"  a  favorite  devotional 
book  with  pious  Catholics ;  and  in  the  succeeding 
generatio:i  by  John  Scheffler  a  German,  first  a 
Protestant  and  afterwards  a  Catholic  Priest,  who  added 
"several  sweet  and  devout  hymns"  to  both  communions. 
The  persuasion  assumed  consistency  and  form,  in  con- 
nection with  a  book  called  the  Spiritual  Guide  by 
Michael  de  Molinos,  a  Spanish  priest,  born  at  Saragossa 
in  1627.  The  book  was,  in  1687,  condemned  by  the  Inqui- 
sition. Molinos  was  himself  imprisoned  in  a  monastery, 
where  he  died  in  1696.  The  doctrines  of  his  book  were 
accepted  elsewhere,  among  Protestants,  as  well  as  in  the 
Catholic  world,  especially  in  Fi-ance,  where  they  formed 
a  party  including  the  illustrious  names  of  Fenelon  and 
Madame  Guyon.  They  recommended  as  the  true  way  of 
life  that  the  "  soul  should  seek  to  become  affectionately 
one  with  God,  by  quiet  prayer,  and  a  complete  annihila- 
tion of  its  own  independent  existence,"  to  the  extent  of 
having  no  concern  for  its  own  salvation,  provided  God 
is  glorified. 

From  their  opponents  they  received  the  old  heretical 
name  of  Quietists.  Their  doctrine  was  one  of  those 
varieties  of  mysticism,  which  have  appeared,  from  time 
to  time,  in  various  periods  of  the  Christian  Church, 
Occasionally  a  true  type  of  Christian  piety;  and  yet  in 
the  case  of  most  people  who  adopt  it,  involving  the 
serious  error  of  ignoring  a  christian's  duty  to  the  world, 
and  sinking  into  spiritual  selfishness.  But  that  certainly 
was  not  chargeable  upon  its  two  great  leaders  in  France, 
The  writings  of  Fenelon  are  known  wherever  the  French 
language  extends.  And  Madame  Guyon  "travelled  many 
years  with  her  confessor,  La  Combe,  who  shared  her 
views,  through  France  and  Switzerland ;  and  by  means 
of  numerous  writings,  and  oral  instruction,  kindled  a  like 
burning  love  to  God  in  the  hearts  of  countless  disciples, 


84 

male  and  female."  In  the  Romish  Church,  at  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  pious  lives  of  the  Quietists 
stood  out  the  more  distinctly  before  observation,  in  con- 
trast with  the  hollow  formality  prevailing  around  them, 
and  the  godlessness  of  fashionable  society.  The  con- 
demnation which  fell  upon  Molinos  followed  the  Quietists 
in  France.  For  the  instigator  of  it  was  the  Jesuit  La 
ChaisJe,  confessor  of  Louis  XIV.  Fenelon  read  the  papal 
censure  of  his  doctrines  from  the  pulpit,  in  1699,  sub- 
mitted, and  admonished  his  people  to  submit  to  superior 
authority. 

Jansenism  and  Quietism,  no  doubt  erred  on  some 
points,  but  they  were  earnest,  and  godly  attempts  for  a 
revival  of  vital  truth  and  piety.  They  were  both  sub- 
jected to  persecution  by  the  iniiaence  of  the  Jesuits  with 
the  inquisition,  with  the  pajtacy  and  the  King  of  France. 

THE    REIGN    OF   JESUITISM. 

To  support,  defend  and  propaLjate  the  Romish  religion 
as  they  found  it,  the  society  of  Loyola  had,  from  its  insti- 
tution, continued  with  a  zeal,  assiduity  and  craft,  which 
as  a  mere  intellectual  exploit  cannot  be  contemplated 
without  admiration.  Combined  as  one  man,  intelligent, 
perfectly  trained,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  pious  men 
among  them  to  give  the  credit  of  sanctity  to  the  whole, 
the  system  which  bound  them  together  was  intolerant, 
unscrupulous  of  means,  and  unrelentrng.  They  made 
war  upon  every  shape  and  movement  of  reform,  and  yet 
to  obtain  a  real  addition  to  their  force,  or  reach  a  desired 
end,  were  ready  to  indulge  their  converts,  to  any  degree 
short  of  open  scandal,  in  vice  or  superstition.  Mere  vice, 
if  covert,  was  venial  ;  it  was  heresy,  according  to  their 
standard,  which  was  deadly  sin.  To  guide  the  education 
of  the  young,  and  the  consciences  of  powerful  penitents 
in  the  confessional,  and  to  wield  the  policy  of  nations, 
through  sacerdotal  influence  over  the  minds  of  rulers, 
and  cooperating  mysteriously  with  one  another,  from 
country  to  country  to  that  end,  were  the  favorite  methods 
of  the  society.  Their  most  bitter  opposition  was,  of 
course,  directed  against  Protestants  ;  but  their  ceaseless 
intermeddling  created   greater  dislike  to  them   among 


85 

Catholics.  To  the  Papacy  in  its  war  with  the  various 
forces  of  Reform,  they  had  proved  an  invaluable  ally. 
Their  order  was  the  very  machinery  needed  to  sustain  it 
when  papal  practices,  which  no  argumentation  could 
defend,  were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  men.  The  papacy 
was  the  keystone  of  a  government  whjch  could  not  safely 
be  removed  at  once;  and  yet  to  retain  it  in  force,  some- 
thing else  than  sound  reason  was  needed.  The  Jesuits 
brouglit  that  something  else,  in  blind  devotion  to  its 
interests,  consummate  organization,  the  subtlest  craft, 
and  a  moral  theology  adapted  to  the  circumstances. 
They  aspired  to  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  Catho- 
lic ])eople,  and  thereby  to  secure  the  unlimited  supremacy 
of  the  Romish  Church  over  all  states.  Extraordinary 
success  attended  upon  their  elibrts,  from  the  tirst.  It 
culminated  in  the  generalship  of  Claudius  Aquaviva, 
(1581  to  1615)  and  of  Mutius  Vitelleschi  (1615  to  1645), 
and  although  seriously  impaired  in  the  Jansenian  con- 
troversy, it  was  in  the  first  instance  morally  rather 
than  materially.  In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury they  controlled  the  politics  of  Italy,  had  established 
their  influence  at  the  court  of  the  emperor,  and  made 
Vienna,  Ingoldstadt  and  Cologne  centres  of  operation, 
Treves,  Maj-ence,  Spires,  Aschatfenburg  and  Wurtzburg 
were  seats  of  their  colleges,  and  Munich  was  the  "Rome 
of  Germany."  Bohemia  they  had  completely  subjugated. 
Bavaria  and  Baden  were  brought  under  their  rule,  the 
protestant  population  being  compelled  to  become  Catho- 
lic, or  go  into  exile.  Although  restrained  in  France  by 
the  policy  of  Henry  lY.,  they  established  themselves  in 
Lyons,  and  even  in  Paris  succeeded  in  securing  an  increas- 
ing party  among  the  members  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  in 
the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  obtained  unrestricted  freedom 
of  action  and  royal  cooperation.  In  Spain  opposed  by 
the  Dominicans,  they  succeeded  at  last  in  obtaining  a  foot- 
hold at  Alcala  and  Salamanca,  from  which  the}-  gradually 
extended  their  movements  to  the  head  of  government. 
In  Portugal  they  were  received  readily,  furnished  con- 
fessors for  the  royal  family,  and  dictated  the  policy  of 
the  nation.  Similarly  favored  from  the  iirst  in  Belgium, 
they  had  their  colleges  in  Courtray,  Ypern,  Bruges,  Ant- 


werp,  and  Brussels,  and  thence  made  their  way  among 
the  protestants  of  the  United  iSTetherlands.  And  their 
colleges  were  estahlished  at  Douay  and  Rome  "for  the 
benefit  of  England."  To  the  north,  Poland  was  their 
stronghold,  whence  invasion  was  carried  into  Sweden  and 
Russia,  in  iieither  of  which  was  it  permanently  success- 
ful, and  from  both  did  it  provoke  retaliation.  Having 
insinuated  themselves  into  places  of  influence  at  different 
Catholic  courts,  they  artfully  wielded  tlie  minds  of  prin- 
ces and  statesmen  to  the  execution  of  their  designs. 

They  also  maintained  their  missionaries  among  the 
heathen,  with  the  intention  of  buildirig  up  their  order  in 
every  nation  under  heaven.  The  sincere  piety  of  man}- 
of  their  humbler  brethren  it  would  be  the  height  of 
ancharitableness  to  deny,  and  their  plans  fill  the  mind 
with  a  sense  of  grandeur,  yet  no  unprejudiced  reader  of 
their  history  can  hesitate  to  say  that  the  motives  of  the 
ruling  spirits  were  profoundly  secular — the  latter  was  the 
element  of  their  system  which  in  process  of  time  increas- 
ed, while  the  other  diminished.  Some  of  their  foreign 
missionaries  were  self-denying,  godly  men  ;  others  were 
in  full  sympathy  with  the  ambition  of  their  order.  Many 
of  the  latter  combined  to  keep  before  the  world  a  succes- 
sion of  such  glowing  reports  of  missionary  success,  of 
such  numbers  of  converts,  of  such  scenes  of  christian 
purity  and  harmony,  and  of  such  triumphs  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  among  the  heathen,  as  long  adorned  and 
upheld  Jesuit  repute  at  Rome  and  throughout  western 
Europe.  Japan,  China,  and  India  were  the  scenes  of 
their  most  boasted  triumphs.  And  if  contemplated 
merely  in  themselves,  the  vast  attainments,  the  versatile 
talents,  and  long  endurance  of  some  of  their  Indian  and 
Chinese  missionaries — such  men  as  Ricci,  Adam  Schall, 
and  De  Nobili — were  really  wonderful. 

But  reports  from  more  humble  minded  and  truthful 
men,  in  course  of  time  got  before  the  European  public, 
other  orders  also  sent  their  missionaries  to  those  coun- 
tries ;  and  complaints  increased  that  the  Jesuit  converts 
were  only  nominal,  that  the  essentials  of  Christianity 
were  being  surrendered  for  the  sake  of  inducing  multi- 
tudes to  assume  the  name  of  it,  and  practice  a  fev/  Catho- 


'f'^  87 

lie  forms,  which  were  also  so  adapted  to  the  heathen  as 
to  make  the  practice  easy.  Closer  investi^^ation  con- 
firmed the  reports.  The  matter  was  becoming  a  public 
scandal.  Orders  were  sent  from  Rome,  by  the  hand  of 
the  papal  legate  Tonrnon  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Tonrnon 
left  Europe  in  1702,  conveyed  his  message  to  the  Jesuit 
mission  in  India,  and  arrived  in  China  in  1704.  The 
result  M'as  unfortunate  to  .himself.  At  the  imperial  court 
the  missionaries  were  in  favor.  Tournon  was  driven 
away  by  the  emperor,  and  imprisoned  at  Macao,  where 
he  died  in  1710.  Controversy  arose  between  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  authorities  at  home,  greatly  prolonged 
b}-  the  intervening  distance,  and  tJie  slow  methods  of 
travel  in  those  days.  It  did  not  come  to  an  end  until 
1742,  when  Benedict  XIV.  entirely  prohibited  the  accom- 
modation to  heathen  rites  which  was  the  subject  of  dis- 
pute. The  missions  forthwith  lost  their  eclat  and  dwind- 
led away.  Yet  the  field  was  not  entirely  abandoned. 
To  this  day  there  are  remnants  of  that  Jesuit  work  in 
China,  in  a  community  where  the  name  christian  is 
applied  to  a  combination  of  Catholic  and  heathen  observ- 
ances. 

Jesuit    missions    in    Abyssinia    enjoyed    a    similarly    ^  /    x. 

splended  success,  which  was  extinguished  in  their  expul- c'j^^^^^^' **^  ''  __ 
sion  from  tiie  country  by  an  uprising  of  the  native  mono-  ^^-tt^  ^Mu-*^ 
physite  population,  whoin  1632,  restored  theirown  church. 
In  America  their  work  progressed  more  quietly,  being  left, 
except  in  Paraguay  and  California,  to  its  own  natural 
results.  In  every  direction  those  results  have  proved  to 
be  little  better  than  heathenisrji  among  the  ignorant,  and 
the  provocative  of  infidelity  to  the  intelligent.  Perhaps 
the  least  corrupted  by  their  principle  of  accommodation 
were  the  missions  to  the  North  American  Indians,  though 
the  fruit  reaped  was  certainly  small. 

The  Jansenian  controversy,  especially  the  Provincial 
Letters- of  Pascal,  had  damaged  by  exposing  the  moral 
character  of  Jesuitism.  The  public  and  Papal  condem- 
nation of  their  missionary  practices  also  condemned  all 
concerned  in  them  of  falsehood  and  charlatanism.  Mean- 
while their  intermeddling  in  financial  and  state  affairs 
had  become  offensive  to  the  governments  of  Europe,  and  , 


in  some  cases,  intolerable.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
divided  into  two  great  parties  between  those  who  cen- 
sured and  those  who  defended  the  Jesuits.  Papal  elec- 
tions were  determined  by  it,  to  one  side  or  the  other. 

But  the  progress  of  public  opinion  was  adverse  to  the 
order.  In  1759  all  its  members  resident  in  Portugal  and 
its  dependencies  were  banished.  In  1764  the}^  were 
expelled  from  France  ;  in  1766,  from  Spain  and  Sicily; 
and  finally,  by  the  act  of  Clement  XIV.,  in  1773,  the 
order  was  abolished.  The  Bull,  Dominus  ac  Redemptpr, 
was  issued  on  the  21st  of  July,  1773,  and  took  effect  on 
the  16th  of  August  next.  Clement  died  the  following 
year. 

THE     PAPACl. 

The  civil  power  of  the  Papacy,  notwithstanding  the 
force  of  the  re-action,  was  now  greatly  impaired  in  both 
degree  and  extent  of  authority.  Not  only  had  some 
nations  separated  themselves  hopelessly,  but  those  who 
remained  in  connection  with  it,  no  longer  paid  it  the 
reverence  of  former  times,  and  obedience,  on  the  part  of 
the  great  monarchs,  was  no  longer  to  be  inforced.  Great 
powers  and  privileges  were  still  admitted  to  be  resident  in 
Rome,  which  France,  Spain,  and  the  Empire  equally  dis- 
regarded when  it  suited  their  purpose  ;  and  Papal  weak- 
ness rendered  it  necessary  to  submit  to  much,  which  all 
Catholic  states  would  regard  as  just  ground  of  complaint. 
In  the  wars  of  the  Spanish  and  Polish  successions,  the 
troops  of  Catholic  powers  in  ditferent  directions  entered 
the  Pope's  dominions,  and  plundered  his  subjects. 

It  was  in  the  fourth  year  of  Innocent  X.  that  the 
treaty  of  Westphalia  was  concluded,  against  which  he 
protested  in  vain.  It  was  he  also  who  authoritatively 
condemned  the  five  propositions  ascribed  to  Jansen.  He 
died  in  1655.  His  successor,  Alexander  VII.,  became 
involved,  by  Jesuit  influence,  in  the  Janenist  controversy, 
while  he  suifered  a  deep  humiliation  in  a  dispute  with 
Louis  XIV.,  on  account  of  an  insult  to  the  French 
Ambassador  at  Rome.  "  Alexander  refusing  the  satis- 
faction required,  the  king  not  only  made  himself  master 
of  Avignon,  but  marched  an  army  into  Italy,"  and  com- 


ai 


^ 


^^1 


89 

pelled  the  pope  to  sign  a  peace  to  ]iis  disgrace  and  loss 
of  territory.  Clement  IX.,  who  succeeded  him,  on  the 
30th  of  June,  1667,  effected  a  suspension  of  the  contro- 
versy between  the  Jansenists  and  Jesuits,  accomtnodated 
a  long  existing  dispute  with  Portugal,  by  confirming  the 
bishops  of  King  Pedro's  nomination,  and  the  "  mildness 
of  his  government  towards  the  subjects  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal state"  procured  much  honor  for  his  brief  pontificate. 
He  died  in  December,  1668.  The  next  Pope,  Clement 
X.,  filled  the  chair  six  years,  without  any  event  of  dis- 
tinction in  history.  Innocent  XL,  began  his  reign  Dec. 
10,  1676,  with  the  purpose  to  restore  the  papal  suprem- 
acy in  temporal  things.  The  attempt  in  the  case  of 
France  led  to  controversj-  in  which  the  clergy  and  peo- 
ple defended  the  cause  of  their  king.  Louis  XIV., 
called  a  council  of  the  French  clergy  which,  under  the 
leadership  of  Bosuet,  bishop  of  Meaux,  defined  more 
sharply  than  ever  before  the  privileges  of  the  Galilean 
Church.  The  king  persecuted  his  own  protestant  sub- 
jects, and  enforced  Catholicism  ;  but  refused  submission 
to  the  Pope.  He  added  unnecessary  indignity,  main- 
tained his  minister  at  Rome  by  force  of  arras  in  con- 
tempt of  the  papal  regulations,  and  even  disposed  of 
ecclesiastical  benefices,  within  the  bounds  of  France,  by 
his  own  will.  Innocent,  though  far  from  a  feeble  pontiff, 
proved  unable  to  maintain  his  now  impracticable  claims. 
His  action  touching  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Xantes 
was  rather  one  of  compliance  with  the  Jesuits,  than  a 
matter  of  great  interest  to  himself,  at  that  juncture,  and 
though  it  damaged  the  cause  of  the  haughty  monarch, 
damaged  that  of  the  Papacy  still  more. 

Alexander  VIII.  was  elected  on  the  sixth  of  October, 
1690,  seven  v/eeks  after  the  death  of  Innocent.  A  begin- 
ning was  made  in  reconciling  the  difficulty  with  France, 
but  before  peace  was  concluded  the  pope  died,  on  the 
first  of  February,  1691.  The  election  of  a  successor  was 
lengthened  out  until  the  twelfth  of  July,  and  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  Innocent  XII.,  who  concluded  the  peace 
with  France.  He  also  prudently  avoided  a  quarrel  with 
the  Emperor,  while  enforcing  his  authority  upon  "  the 
vassals  in  the  ecclesiastical   states;"  and   no  pope  was 


90 

ever  more  fortnniite  in  having  his  censure  of  heresy  com- 
plied with  than  he,  in  the  submission  of  the  Quietist 
Fenelon.     He  died  Sept.  27,  1700. 

Clement  XI.  was  elected  on  thethird  of  November 
next,  and  reigned  twenty-one  years.  One  of  his  first 
transactions  was  to  oppose  the  erection  of  Prussia  into 
a  kingdom,"  to  which  the  party  concerned  paid  no  regard. 
Still  more  was  the  feebleness  of  the  papacy  in  temporal 
things  exhibited  in  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession. 
Professing  to  stand  neutral,  Clement  was  accused  by 
both  parties  of  befriending  their  enemies.  The  Frencli 
extorted  from  him  the  recognition  of  Philip  V.,  as  king 
of  Spain.  The  Austrians  afterwards  entered  and  plun- 
dered his  territories,  and  constrained  him  to  annul  that 
recognition,  and  substitute  the  name  of  their  candidate, 
the  Archduke  Charles.  If  he  offended  the  Jesuits  by  his 
censure  of  their  missions  in  China  and  India,  they  were 
still  too  strong  to  be  broken  by  it,  and  he  gave  them 
ample  satisfaction  in  the  blow  inflicted  on  the  jansenists. 

Upon  the  death  of  Clement  XL,  in  1721,  Innocent 
XIII.  succeeded,  and  reigned  three  years  without  per- 
forming any  act  to  detain  attention  upon  him. 

Controversy  on  the  subject  of  the  Jesuit  missions  in 
which  the  opposition  was  led  by  the  Dominicans,  was  now 
agitating  the  Catholic  Church.  Benedict  XIII.  was 
raised  to  the  pontificate  in  the  interest  of  the  Dominican 
party,  himself  a  Dominican  monk.  His  reign  was 
marked  b}^  an  unusually  pacific  attitude  towards  the 
Greek  and  Protestant  Churclies,  with  a  view  to  reconcile 
them  with  the  Roman.  But  he  left  a  greater  reputation 
for  virtue  and  learning,"  than  for  the  wisdom  or  pros- 
perity of  his  administration. 

Clement  XII.,  who  succeeded  in  1730,  spent  the  ten 
years  of  his  reign  in  fruitless  attempts  to  repress  the 
growth  of  religious  liberty,  and  to  revive  the  reality  of 
pai)al  prerogatives,  whicih  the  civil  powers  could  no  longer 
allow.  In  these  eflforts  he  embroiled  himself  success- 
ively with  the  courts  of  France,  Austria  and  Spain,  and 
consumed  much  of  his  time  in  contentions  from  which 
it  was  impossible  that  he  could  emerge  with  credit. 


91 

In  1740  Benedict  XIV.  succeeded  to  the  chair  thus 
diminished  in  real  power,  and  by  a  coarse  of  moderation 
procured  for  it  more  respect  than  the  most  exorbitant 
claims  of  his  predecessors  could  compell.  He  endeavored 
to  establish  a  wise  econom_y  in  the  administration  of  his 
estates;  and  acquired,  by  his  tolerant  and  unassuming 
spirit,  the  esteem  of  all  Europe.  "When  his  territories 
were  invaded,  his  utmost  efforts  were  laid  out  to  repair 
the  damage  thereby  inflicted  upon  thepeople,  which  also 
the  common  sentime'it  of  Europe  condemned.  Of  the 
conclusive  effect  with  which  he  rebuked  the  Jesuit  pro- 
ceedings in  India  and  China  mention  has  already  been 
made. 

Clement  XIII.,  elected  in  1758,  in  the  interest  of  the 
Jesuits,  used  every  effort  to  avert  the  effects  of  that 
unpopularity  which  had  settled  down  upon  them.  His 
efforts  were  fruitless  to  that  end,  but  exposed  to  immin- 
ent hazard  the  authority  of  his  own  office.  It  was  within 
his  pontificate  that  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  Portu- 
gal, France  and  Spain.  The  anti-Jesuit  paity  elected  his 
successor,  who  took  the  papal  name  of  Clement  XIV. 
For  the  interests  of  the  Pa|)acy,  in  that  crisis,  no  better 
choice  could  have  been  made.  Jesuits  for  two  hundred 
years  had  put  themselves  forward  as  its  defenders,  and 
its  reputation  was  largely  associated  with  theirs.  It  had 
never  submitted  to  recognize  indebtedness  to  their  sup- 
port, and  had  occasionally  reproved  their  practices;  but 
hr.d  it  persisted  in  tolerating  them,  lying,  as  they  now 
were,  under  the  general  reprobation  of  good  men,  it 
could  not  have  escaped  serious  diminution  of  respect. 
And  yet,  for  the  head  of  the  Papacy  to  array  himself 
against  his  own  janizaries  was  a  daring  act.  But  to  that 
act  Clement  XIV.  was  found  equal.  He  was  elected  in 
1769,  abolished  the  Jesuit  order  in  1773,  and  died  in  1774. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  course  of  Papal  history,  from 
1648  to  1774,  was  that  of  an  irregular  fluctuating  decline. 
The  admitted  talents  and  virtues  of  one  or  two  popes 
could  only  retard  the  downward  progress.  And  the 
declining  secular  power  dragged  with  it  that  which  more 
properly  belonged  to  ecclesiastical  relations.  Equally 
w  ise  and  bold  as  was  the  act  of  Clement  XIV.,  whereby 


92 

he  severed  his  office  from  the  Jesuits,  it  came  too  late  to 
avert  all  the  calamities  so  nearly  ripened. 

STATK  OF  RELIGION  AND  INTELLIGENCE  IN  THE  ROMISH 
CHURCH. 

Through  the  war  made  in  the  Catholic  Church  upon 
every  attempt  to  revive  a  purer  doctrine  or  more  spiritual 
life,  practical  piety  was  confined  within  exceedingly  nar- 
row bounds,  and  became  more  and  more  rare. "  The 
effect  was  to  establisli  i'ormalism  in  full  authority,  under 
cover  of  which  infidelity  prevailed,  and  prevailed  most 
where  intelligence  was  greatest.  In  a  ritual  service,  not 
designed  for  instruction,  and  in  which  the  peoph^  are 
only  lookers  on,  reason  finds  littie  to  take  hold  of,  and 
soon  wearies  and  drops  the  theme  altogether.  If  religion 
is  authoritatively  confined  to  such  set  observances,  it  will 
soon  become  drained  of  all  real  interest.  And  if  even  in 
that  condition  its  external  observance  is  deemed  suffi- 
cient for  salvation,  it  will  stand  in  the  way  of  heart 
piety.  These  ends  were  actually  reached  in  Catholic 
Europe  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century — 
worldliness  under  the  cover  of  profession  of  faith,  and 
utter  unbelief  on  the  partof  the  more  intelligent.  Piety 
in  order  to  be  warm,  earnest  and  healthy  must  have  a 
degree  of  freedom.  Every  christian  does  not  learn  Christ 
in  precisely  the  same  way  and  through  the  same  light. 
The  evil  which  resulted  was  greatest  in  France,  where 
intelligence  was  commonest,  and  intellect  most  active. 

In  France  also  the  philosophy  of  Locke  was  accepted, 
and  carried  out,  with  a  logical  abandon,  truly  French,  to 
conclusions,  from  which  its  English  author  would  have 
shrunk  in  horror, and  which  were  turned  as  weapons  against 
all  religion  in  the  spirit  of  afrivolous  and  scoft'ing  ridicule. 

From  the  time  of  Charlemagne  the  Galilean  Church 
has  been  recognized  as  laying  claim  to  a  certain  degree 
of  freedom  from  Papal  rule.  The  great  points  of  Galli- 
canism,  as  set  forth  by  Bosuet,  and  a  national  assembly 
of  French  clergy  under  Louis  XIV.,  are  four,  1,  that 
Kings  are  independent  of  the  pope,  in  secular  matters, 

2,  that  episcopal  jurisdiction  is  immediately  from  Christ, 

3,  that  a  general  Council  is  a  higher  authority  than  the 


93 

Pope,  and  4,  that  the  Pope  is  not  infallible,  except  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  church.  All  that  was  directly 
opposed  to  Jesuitism,  and  the  latter  success  of  that  order 
in  France  had  operated  to  hold  Galilean  principles  in 
abeyance. 

Ag'aiUjthe  Jesuits,  putting  themselves  forward  as  the 
defenders  of  religion,  had  systematically  joined  interests 
with  the  nobility  and  the  court.  And  as  the  merciless 
oppression  exercised  by  the  latter  became  increasingly 
weighty,  popular  detestation  fell  upon  all  alike.  To  men 
capable  of  comprehending  the  order  and  nature  of  the 
causes  at  work,  it  became  impossible  to  respect  what  was 
[)Ut  before  them  for  Christianity,  and  tomeiiwho  looked  no 
further  disbelief  was  inevitable.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  piety  in  that  church,  at  that  time,  existed  chiefly 
aniong  the  ignorant,  and  was  protected  by  their  ignorance. 
A  tremendous  calamity  was  certainly  before  a  nation, 
when  so  large  a  [tortion  of  it  lay  in  that  condition. 

And  \'et  there  was  no  lack  of  organization  for  such 
piety  as  was  recognized  and  allowable.  The  regular  ser- 
vice, though  not  so  cumbrous  as  that  of  the  Greek 
Church,  was  very  copious.  And  if  attendance  upon  all 
that  did  not  suffice  a  troubled  conscience,  there  were 
various  monastic  orders  into  one  or  other  of  which,  if  a 
penitent  felt  moved  thereto),  he  would  find  little  difficulty 
in  obtaining  admittance.  With  the  view  of  meeting  the 
utmost  of  such  demands,  the  more  recerrtly  constituted 
orders  were  the  most  severe,  .Such  was  the  revived  /-lcM-^«-*/7 
order  of  La  Trappe,  and  such  that  of  the  Redemptorists,^, .  ,^ 
and  the  "  Sodality  of  the  devotion  of  the  heart  of  Jesus."  <*:^<-f^>''**" 
Orders  were  also  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
youth  in  consistency  with  the  doctrines  and  practices  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  To  that  the  Redemptorists  gave 
much  of  their  attention,  and  it  was  the  sole  object  of  the 
order  of  La  Salle — Fratres  ignoraMioe.  The  new  orders 
had  all  a  view  to  the  confining  of  piety  to  prescribed 
channels,  and  the  severer  exaction  of  compliance  with 
the  ordinances  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  intellectual  activity  of  the  time  found  some  hon- 
orable representatives  among  the  Catholics,  especially  of 
France.     The  Benedictines'of  the  Congregation   of  St. 


i)4 

Maur  continued  tlieir  learned  labors,  which,  in  a  liistori- 
cal  point  of  view,  are  of  great  value.  Others  employed 
themselves  in  editing  works  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  and 
other  relics  of  Ciiristian  antiquity.  Many  of  the 
Jesuits  were  men  of  great  learning,  and  ability,  and 
some,  of  unquestionable  piety.  It  was  the  time  of  the 
Theologians  Bona  and  Noris,  and  the  antiquarian  Mura- 
tori  of  Italy,  and  of  the  historians  Mabillon  and  Du  Pin, 
of  France,  and  the  illustrious  writers  of  Port  Royal  have 
already  been  mentioned. 

It  was  also  within  the  same  period  that  the  best 
preachers  of  the  Galilean  Church  flourished,  at  the  head 
of  whom  stand,  the  great  names  of  Boui'daloue,  Bosuet, 
Flechier,  and  Massillon.  And  among  Romish  Biblical 
scholars  appeared  Simon,  Calmet,  and  Houbigant.  The 
Catholic  literature  of  Spain  was  comparatively  scanty, 
and  the  best  intellectual  activity  of  German}-  was  given 
to  the  cause  Protestantism. 

POLITICAL    CHANGES    AFFECTING    THE    CHURCH. 

The  form  of  government  prevailing  in  that  [leriod  was 
absolute  monarchy,  and  the  principal  powers  were  France 
and  Spain,  the  former  in  its  prime  and  the  latter  declin- 
ing. Next  were  England,  the  Empire  and  Sweden. 
France  and  Spain  were  Romish;  England  and  Sweden 
Protestant.  The  imperial  dynasty  was  Romish,  but  Ger- 
many was  divided.  The  smaller  Protestant  states, 
Western  Switzerland  and  Holland,  adde-l  to  the  weight 
of  northern  Germany  and  Sweden,  formed,  on  the  con 
tinent.  an  interest  opposed,  but  not  in  itself  of  equal 
strength  to  the  great  Romish  powers  when  combined. 
England  w^as,  during  all  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  with  exception  of  a  few  years  under  Cromwell, 
wholly  occupied  with  her  own  interna]  affairs;  and  did 
not  again  become  a  great  European  power,  until  so  con- 
stituted by  the  policy  of  William  III.  From  that  date, 
she  gradually  assumed  the  position  of  a  leader  on  the 
Protestant  side,  bringing  thereb}'  the  two  parties  more 
nearly  to  an  equal  balance.  The  prime  point  of  inter- 
national policy  w^as  to  maintain  an  equality,  or  balance 
among  the  great  powers. 


95 

Charles  II.  of  Spain  died  in  the  last  year  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  without  an  heir.  In  him  ended  the 
Spanish  branch  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  A  contest 
ensued  for  the  succession,  between  the  Austrian  Hayjsburo^ 
and  an  allied  branch  of  the  Bourbons,  a  grandson  of 
Louis  XIV.,  Philip  of  Anjou.  France  with  her  allies 
defended  the  claim  of  Philip,  while  Austria  with  her 
allies,  including  England,  Holhind,  Savoy  and  Portugal, 
maintained  that  of  the  archduke  Charles.  The  war 
closed  with  putting  Philip  on  the  throne  ;  but  with  great 
limitations,  and  the  loss  of  all  the  Italian  states — Lom- 
bardy,  Milan,  Sardinia,  Naples,  and  Sicily — which  had 
belonged  to  Spain. 

In  that  war,  distinguished  by  the  exploits  of  Mai  1- 
borough  and  Prince  Eugene,  and  lasting  from  1701  to 
1713,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  Victor  Amadeus,  though  he 
first  joined  France,  soon  changed,  and  fought  on  the  side 
of  Austria.  His  reward  was  the  enlargement  of  his  nar- 
row dominions,  at  the  expense  of  the  allies  of  France  in 
northern  Italy,  and  the  annexation  of  Sicily,  taken  from 
Spain.  With  that  extent  of  territory,  he  was  honored 
with  the  title  of  king.  Austria  received  the  rest  of  the 
Spanish  states  in  Italy.  Four  years  afterwards,  Victor 
Amadeus  accepted  Sardinia  in  exchange  for  Sicily.  Thus 
Austria  came  into  possession  of  the  two  neighboring 
states  of  Sicily  and  Naples,  and  Victor  Amadeus  became 
king  of  Sardinia,  a  title  which  his  successors  retained 
until  Victor  Emanuel  became  king  of  Italy. 

Again,  during  the  occupation  of  the  great  powers  with 
the  wVir  of  the  Polish  succession,  1733  and  1734,  Don 
Carlos,  a  son  of  the  Bourbon  King  of  Spain,  and  duke  of 
Parma  and  Placentia  in  right  of  his  mother,  led  a  Span- 
ish force  into  Naples,  and  took  possession  of  both  it  and 
Sicily.  Under  arrangements  of  the  succeeding  peace, 
he  was  allowed  to  retain  his  conquest,  on  condition  of 
surrendering  Parma  and  Placentia  to  Austria. 

Thus  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  became  Kings,  a  Bourbon 
was  placed  on  the  throne  of  Spain,  another  on  that  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  while  the  house  of  Austria  held  the 
best  of  Northern  Italy. 


96 

In  the  North,  the  little  s^tate  of  Prussia,  made  a  king- 
dom in  1701,  was  gradnallj  enlarging  her  bounds,  to 
which  important  additions  were  made,  with  a  still  greater 
addition  of  military  strength,  in  the  reigi;  of  Frederick 
II.,  who  came  to  the  throne  in  1740. 

Russia,  champion  of  the  Greek  Church,  also  continued 
her  course  of  territorial  enlargement,  especially  to  the 
east  and  south. 

Poland,  lying  between  Russia,  Prussia  and  Austria, 
was  distracted  by  internal  dissentions.  Russian  arms 
were  now  in  condition  to  retaliate  invasion,  in  the  inter- 
est of  Greek  Catholics.  Austria  had  an  interest  in  pro- 
tecting Roman  Catholics,  and  Prussia,  Protestants,  A 
treaty  was  concluded,  in  1773,  by  those  three  powers, 
for  the  dismemberment  of  Poland,  the  greater  part  of 
which  they  divided  among  themselves,  and  occupied  their 
respective  portions  by  force  of  arms. 

The  Venetians,  who  had  longlield  dominion  in  South- 
ern Greece,  were  finally  expelled  from  that  country  in 
1718,  when  it  came  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
and  Venice  ceased  to  be  a  power  of  any  importance. 
Her  superiority  in  trade  was  lost  before. 

All  the  great  political  and  military  changes  tended 
relatively  to  diminish  the  Romish  states,  and  build  up 
the  Protestant,  and,  to  some  degree,  the  Greek.  A  new 
and  strong  kingdom  was  added  to  the  Protestant  con- 
nection. The  number  of  Romish  Kingdoms  remained 
the  same.  If  Poland  was  absorbed,  Sardinia  was  set  up. 
And  Sardinia  has  proved  a  liberal  power.  Romish 
Poland  was  not. 

To  sum  up  briefly,  the  secular  changes  of  the  time 
most  favorable  to  progress  of  religious  liberty  were 

1.  The  Peace  of  Westphalia,  1648. 

2.  The  English  Commonwealth,  1849—1660. 

3.  The  hnglish  Revolution,  1688—89—90. 

4.  The  war  of  the  Spanish  succession — which  reduced 
the  power  of  both  France  and  Spain,  the  greatest,  and 
most  relentless  champions  of  religious  intolerance — 1701 
—1713—14. 

5.  The  erection  of  Prussia  into  a  kingdom — 1701. 

6.  The  Union  of  England  and  Scotland,  1707. 


97 

7.  The  tirst  steps  of  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  towards 
royalty  and  a  liberal  policy— the  elevation  of  "that  royal 
dynasty  destined  to  set  the  example  of  free  relio;ion 
among  Romanists,  to  unite  Italy,  and  extinguish  the'tem-  ^^^ 

poral  power  of  the  Papacy.  •^lls^'^ 

THE    SPIRIT    OF    RECENT    RELIGIOUS     PROGRESS. 

Ancient  civilization  leaned  to  art;  the  modern  gives 
prominence  to  science;  and  the  only  culture  proper  to 
the  middle  ages  was  shaped  by  sacerdotal  constraint.  In 
another  light,  the  activit}^  of  the  human  mind  was  shown 
in  ancient  times  chiefly  by  constructiveness,  in  the  mid- 
dle ages,  by  credulity,  and  in  tlie  modern  is  determined 
by  criticism.  At  all  times  of  any  note  in  human  history 
there  are  two  moral  forces  in  operation — the  conserva- 
tive, and  the  progressive.  In  modern  church  history 
these  are  each  subdivided.  The  two  progressive  forces  are 
Evangelism  and  Rationalism  ;  the  two  conservative,  are 
literal  Orthodoxy  and  Ritualism.  Each  side  has  its  ex- 
tremes. Rationalism  is  followed  by  Infidelity,  and  hon- 
est Ritualism,  by  Superstition.  There  is  a  perfuiictorj^ 
ritualism  which  is  only  a  screen  for  unbelief. 

Thus  stand  the  great  religious  forces  of  modern  times  ; 
on  one  hand,  Conservatism,  with  the  mass  of  truth  on 
her  side,  content  with  not  losing  ground;  and  Ritualism 
with  a  strong  tendency  to  go  backward  into  Jewish,  if 
not  heathen  observances;  on  the  otlier,  Evangelism  and 
Rationalism,  both  hopeful  of  still  better  things  ro  come, 
and  laboring  to  bring  them  about;  but  the  latter  seeking 
to  advance  by  means  of  human  reason,  and  the  former, 
in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  are  directly 
opposed  to  each  other,  as  to  principle  of  action,  but  are 
on  the  same  side  in  relation  to  Conservatism.  Against 
everything  wliich  cannot  give  a  satisfactory  account  of 
itself  they  alike  make  war.  And  yet  there  is  a  point  at 
which  they  separate.  When  it  comes  to  the  question  of 
surrendering  some  doctrine  of  tlie  Gospel  to  the  demands 
of  a  philosophy.  Evangelism  seeks  a  more  congenial 
position  with  Conservatism.  On  the  other  side  Ritual- 
ism sometimes  seeks  the  alliance  of  Rationalism,  in  seek- 
ing an  explanation  of  the  forms  it  employs.     By  Ritual- 


98 

ism  I  do  not  mean  merely  the  usino-  of  rites  in  worship  ; 
for  all  christians  use  some  rites;  but  the  faith  of  those 
who  repose  their  hope  of  salvation  upon  the  observance 
of  rites. 

Evangelization  is  the  central  force  by  which  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  is  carried  forward.  It  has  been  supported 
by  a  series  of  revivals,  occurring  at  intervals  of  time  and 
place,  increasing  in  frequency  with  the  onward  progress 
of  the  church,  and  giving  greater  spirituality  to  chi"istiaii 
profession.  The  rationalist  is  the  human  sirle  of  modern 
historical  progress. 

Christian  Rationalism  seeks  to  interpret  Scripture  and 
defend  it  in  accordance  with,  and  on  the  level  of  h  uman 
reason  and  may  be  entirely  consistent  with  Gospel  truth, 
and  helpful  in  its  exposition.  It  errs  when  it  excludes 
everything  above  the  level  of  liuman  reason.  Skepti- 
cism doubts  about  accepting  Scripture  as  true,  and  Infi- 
delity rejects  it  entirely. 

The  objection  to  Rationalism  does  not  He  in  its  being 
reasonable,  but  in  the  nature  of  the  fruits  which  arc 
expected  from  the  action  of  reason.  Reason  cannot  get 
out  of  its  material  more  than  its  auiterial  contains.  Man  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  natural  universe  are  contained  in  the 
decrees  of  God;  but  God's  decrees  are  not  all  contained 
in  the  natural  universe.  A  man,  by  reasoning  from  what 
he  finds  in  the  universe,  may  come  to  true  conclusions 
about  what  he  has  found,  but  can  never  rise  into  the 
region  of  those  divine  decrees,  wliich  are  not  contained 
in  the  natural  universe.  But  i-evelation  of  God's  plan 
of  saving  sinful  men,  and  of  his  disposition  towards  men. 
is  not  contained  in  the  natural  universe,  and  cannot 
therefore  be  deduced  from  it.  Nor  can  it  be  determined 
from  the  natural  universe  wliat  the  plan  of  salvation 
ought  to  be.  Revelation  is  a  sei:)arate  product  of  the 
creative  mind,  additional  to  the  natural  universe,  and 
must  be  learned,  as  we  learn  the  facts  of  the  universe, 
by  intuition  and  faith  in  its  own  proper  facts,  before  we 
are  in  condition  to  deal  with  it  rationally.  The  unchris- 
tian rationalist  lacks  in  breadth  of  generalization,  because 
his  induction  is  not  sufHciently  comprehensive,  lie  takes 
into  view  only  the  natural,  and  of  course  gets  only  the 


99 

natural  in  liis  coiiclnsioii.  Ilis  relio-ions  oversisj^ht  leads 
to  philosophical  error,  ami  thence  to  false  doctrine. 

Kitnalisni  opposes  Evangelism  from  the  other  side, 
and  on  the  still  lower  ground  that  compliance  with  the 
ordinances  of  the  church  is  true  union  with  the  church, 
and  thereby  secures  salvation.  It  is  opposed  to  Rational- 
ism, on  the  ground  that  there  is  a  supernatural  agency  in 
the  ordinances.  Unable  to  encounter  the  rationalist  on 
liis  ground,  it  assumes  the  attitude  of  unquestionable 
authority.  Accordingly,  within  the  bosom  of  a  ritualist 
church,  Rationalism  is  usually  di-iven  into  silent,  if  not 
outspoken,  infidelity. 

In  the  succeeding  part  of  our  narrative,  these  are  the 
forces  whose  action  we  shall  chiefly  have  to  record.  And 
we  shall  find  them  all,  in  all  branches  of  the  church,  in 
constant  conflict,  and  most  active  where  the  church  is 
most  active. 

THE     PROTESTANT     CHURCHES,    FROM     THE     PEACE     OF    WEST- 
PHALIA   TO    THE    EVE    OF    THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION. 
I.    LUTIIERANISM. 

As  in  France  we  have  found  the  greatest  mental 
activity  of  Romanism,  during  this  period,  so  in  Germany 
sliall  we  find  the  principal  arena  of  Lutheranism.  That 
branch  of  the  church  has,  from  the  age  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, held  sway  in  i^orthern  Germany  and  the  Scandina- 
vian countries  ;  but  has  never  made  much  way  beyond 
those  bounds  except  by  colonizing.  A  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Hungary  and  on  the  lower  Danube,  and  a  few 
churches  in  France  and  elsewhere  are  of  that  connection  ; 
but  whoever  wor.ld  follow  the  history  of  Lutheranism 
must  look  to  its  changes  in  Germany. 

During  the  sixteenth  century  the  members  of  that 
communion  were  very  strict  in  exacting  conformity  with 
tlieir  standard  books  ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  seven- 
teenth, and  espeeiall}'  after  the  middle  of  it,  a  degree  of 
iaxitj-  began  to  prevail.  The  Thirty  years  war,  though 
waged  in  the  cause  of  religion,  was  prejudicial  to  the 
higher  religious  interests,  and  in  its  close,  the  Lutheran 
Church,  having  won  the*  battle  of  her  own  independence, 
settled  down  to  take  her  rest.     Amid  the  reliofious  cold- 


100 

iiess,  which  succeeded — the  sluggishness  of  a  formal  and 

finished  theology,  and  the  deep  and    vvidel}-  prevailing 

godlessness    in    general    society,  a    few    persons    united 

themselves  in  an  effort  to  bring  their  own   minds  more 

immediately  into  contact    with    the    Scriptures.     Their 

%,     '       A  '  /r.nieetings  were   commenced  in  1670,  at  the  instance,  and 

^t^t-**/^*^      under  the  direction   of  Philip  Jacob   Spener,  a  zealous 

^ /'AmJL cf       ''^"^^  devoted  pastor  at  Frankfort  on  the  Main.     In  1686 

f     /  he  carried  the  same   efforts  to   Dresden,  where   he   was 

api,)oiuted  court  preacher,  and  in  1691,  to  Berlin.     Thus 

arose  the  Pietist  revival. 

In  1695,  the  Wittenberg  divines  charged  Spener  with 
heresy,  and  denounced  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  errors, 
which  they  professed  to  have  found  in  his  writings.  He 
and  his  friends  defended  themselves.  And  so  arose  the 
Pietist  controversy.  Spener  died  in  1705  ;  but  the 
reviviil  went  on,  in  the  hands  of  others,  among  whom  the 
most  conspicuous  was  A.  H.  Francke.  A  large  party 
A  sustained  the  cause,  and,  in  1^4H,  the  Universiiy  of  Halle 
/6  "7  /  '  was  founded  in  its  interest. 

— "  It  was  whilst  Jansenism  was  laboring  to  revive  ortho- 

doxy in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  tlie  Quietists 
were  earnestly  seeking  "  a  closer  walk  with  God,"  that 
the  Pietist  revival  arose,  apparently  in  a  similar  spirit, 
but  in  more  favorable  circumstances,  of  healthier  and 
fuller  growth,  and  productive  of  more  abundant  fruit. 
Halle  became  the  centre  of  its  operations — more  than  its 
Port-Royal.  In  addition  to  the  University,  Francke  there 
established  an  Orphan  school,  which  soon  became  a  great 
educational  institute,  and  before  his  death,  in  1727,  num- 
bered over  twenty-two  hundred  pupils.  Fellow  laborers 
in  the  university  with  Francke  were  Breithaupt,  Lange, 
Anton  and  Wolf;  and,  as  inspectors  of  the  school,  suc- 
cessively the  Banmgartens,  father  and  son.  For  forty 
years  from  the  beginning  of  its  University,  Halle  contin- 
ued to  be  a  fountain  of  healthy  christian  activity.  And 
yet  within  the  same  time  the  seeds  were  planted  thereof 
another  growth,  mimely,  the  most  vigorous  element  of 
that  style  of  rationalism  which  soon  extended  lo  all  Ger- 
many. 

Christian  Wolf  commenced  his  illustrious  philosophi- 
/"  ,,   calj?areer  in  1703,  and  became  professor  in  Halle  in  1707. 


101 

Desirous  of  secnrino-  the  utmost  clearuess  and  certainty 
in  the  conception  and  presentation  of  truth,  he  adopted 
a  severe  mathematical  method,  and  in  treating^  of  religion, 
laid  down  as  first  principles,  certain  conditions,  which  he 
held  must  characterize  a  revelation.  Some  of  his  disci- 
plea  carried  those  apriorl  assumptions  to  a  greater  length 
than  he,  and  undertook  to  prove  the  absolnte  necessity 
of  a  revelation,  and  "  vicarious  satisfaction  for  mankind," 
and  the  truth  of  separate  doctrines  revealed  in  the  Bible. 
Thus  hunuin  reason  began  to  "  assume  the  position  of  a 
judge  rather  than  an  interpreter  of  Scripture." 

Rejected  at  first  by  the  Pietists,  this  philosophy,  in 
course  of  time,  met  witli  acceptance  from  many  of  them. 
It  synipatliized  with  their  opinion  that  the  regenerated 
heart  is  to  Judge  of  the  spiritual  meaning  of  Scripture  by 
its  own  feelings,  and  led  it  astray,  thereby  ultimately 
creating  a  separation  fi-om  the  Pietist  movement.  The 
fiersuasion  grew  up,  and  widely  prevailed  that  the  reason 
of  man  is  al)le  to  discover  what  is  true  in  divine  things, 
that  it  has  a  test  for  the  teaching  of  revelation  in  its  own 
<i  priori  determinations.  an<i  the  feelings  of  the  pious 
heart.  The  exercise  of  such  criticism  could  not  be 
limited  to  men  si)iritually  prepared  to  appreciate  divine 
truth. 

About  the  same  time,  a  third  element  was  introduced, 
which  although  adverse  to  the  spirit  of  Pietism,  in  its 
liumble  and  implicit  faith,  combined  witli,  and  hastened 
the  development  of  the  error  taking  root  in  it.  The 
influx  of  the  doctrines  of  Deism  from  England  had,  both 
directly  and  indirectly,  great  effect  upon  German  opinion. 
On  one  point  the  earlier  deists  coincided  with  the  Pietists 
and  the  Wolflan  jihilosophy,  namely  in  addressing  their 
criticism  to  the  substance  of  Scripture.  Their  attack 
upon  its  evidences  came  in  later,  and  its  substance  was 
always  their  principal  aim. 

At  the  point  of  time  when  these  elements  had  united 
in  giving  birth  to  a  new  style  of  thinking  about  revela- 
tion, an"  improved  science  of  Hermeneutics  appeared, 
which  that  new  style  of  thinking  fortiiwith  applied,  or 
perverted,  to  its  purpose.  That"  method  may  be  dated 
from  the  publication  of  the  Institutes  of  interpretation  by 


102 

Eniesti,  in  1761.  Its  rules  for  deterniining  the  nieaiHiii»: 
words  of  and  phrases  were  soon  turned  as  an  instrument 
to  the  discussion  of  tlie  whole  substance  of  Scripture. 
The  method  underwent  some  modification  as  applied  by 
Michaelis  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  in  the  hands  of 
Sender,  who  introduced  the  principle  of  accommodation, 
and  thereby  opened  a  wide  door  for  novelty. 

All  the  agencies  thus  combined  were  initiated  by 
men  of  earnest  well  meaning  purpose,  if  not  all  men  of 
real  piety,  and  yet  the  result  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
coldest  varieties  of  christian  rationalisu).  Its  philos(^phi- 
cal  element  was  still  furtlier  deteriorated  whenitaccepted, 
in  a  way  consistent  with  itself,  the  sensationalism  of 
Locke.  That  style  of  thinking  which  grew  up.  in  the 
seventeenth  century  and  first  years  of  the  eighteenth,  in 
the  philosophical  succession  through  DesCartes,  Leibnitz 
and  Wolf  received  a  new  ingredient  from  connection 
with  Englisl)  philosophy,  an  ingredient  which  tended  to 
confine  it  to  the  limits  of  the  outer  senses,  and  results  of 
their  experience. 

To  begin  thinking  from  a  point  beyond  wliich  thought 
cannot  go,  to  tliink  clearly  in  sequence,  and  to  reach 
thereby  reliable  conclusidus  in  religion,  morals,  and  exist- 
ence generally,  was  the  exalted  purpose  of  those  great 
raen,^  In  religion,  as  in  everything  else,  there  was  no 
starting  point,  no  basis  of  authority,  save  the  axioms 
which  were  assumed  as  the  foundation  of  all  thinking. 
Experience  was  assumed  as  furnishing  the  material,  and 
reason  as  the  capacity  and  arbiter  of  truth.  The  stay  and 
direction  of  Scrii:)ture  was,  if  not  [>rofessedly,yet  virtually, 
and  of  necessity,  set  aside,  or  admitted  only  in  as  far  as 
consist?ent  with  the  philosophic  system. 

Clearness  was  held  to  be  the  measure  of  truth. 
"  Truth,"  said  Leibnitz,"  is  that  which  dues  not  contra- 
dict itself,  and  for  which  a  sutficient  reason  can  be  ad- 
duced." The  former  principle  proves  that  a  given  pro- 
position is  possible,  the  latter  that  it  expresses  a  reality. 

Reason  was  accepted  as  the  natural  sense  of  truth, 
and  clearness  the  criterion  of  truth.  After  the  introduc- 
tion of  Locke's  ideas,  commonsense  took  the  place  of 
reason,  or  reason  came  to  be  used  in  the    meaning   of 


103 

coniinonsense  ;   and  experience  was  content  with  a  lower 
and  narrower  position  than  Locke  had  designed  for  it. 

Thus,  the  popular  philosophy  which  succeeded  Wolfs, 
and  reigned  alone,  from  the  middle  to  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  stood  upon  the  narrow  platform  of 
sense  experience,  and  accepted  conimonsense  as  the  cri- 
terion of  all  truth,.  Employed  in  the  exposition  of  Scrip- 
ture and  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  it  constituted, 
with  the  other  elements  already  mentioned,  the  German 
Rationalism  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  and  in  the  ser- 
vice of  unbelief  it  was  the  logical  power  of  the  infidel. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  the  philosopliy  of  all  classes  alike, 
believers  and  unbelievers.  By  believers  it  was  deemed 
as  orthodox  as  the  Gospel,  and  all  tlefences  of  Scripture 
were  constructed  in  accordance  with  it,  and  by  its  means. 
Whatever  might  be  a  man's  spiritual  experience,  he  felt 
bound,  when  philosophizing,  to  reduce  all  higher  things 
to  a  few  common  elements,  and  claimed  no  recognition 
for  an  original  existence  of  that  inner  power,  which  pos- 
sesses tlie  descernment  of  spiritual  things — the  intuition 
belonging  to  that  faith  whicli  is  the  gift  of  God.  In 
general,  it  was  a  style  of  thinking  better  adapted  to  pro- 
duce the  polish  and  attractiveness  of  popular  literature, 
tlian  to  investigation  of  fundamental  principles. 

Its  method  of  criticism  may  be  briefly  stated  thus. 
In  order  to  get  at  the  truth  in  any  case,  reject.as  incredi- 
ble whatever  lies  beyond  the  capacity  of  commonsense, 
or  reduce  it  to  identity  with  something  else  which  is 
within  that  capacity.  In  Christianity,  of  course,  you  will 
have  to  exclude,  or  explain  aAvay  all  revelations,  all  mira- 
cles, and  all  prophecy,  and  accept  only  the  natural  facts. 
And  if  the  natural  facts  recorded  do  not  admit  of  such 
handling  as  to  explain  away  the  supernatural,  you  must 
betake  yourself  to  some  plausible  hypothesis,  which  shall 
reduce  the  whole  to  the  measure  of  common  sense  and 
common  experience. 

Philosophers  and  theologians  stood  on  the  same  phil- 
osophic ground  with  the  deists  ;  and  the  education  of  the 
young  was  conducted  on  the  assumption  that  it  was  the 
only  pliilosophy  consistent  with  christian  profession. 
Ministers  of  the" gospel  thought  it  the  most  eftective  way 


104 

of  interpreting'  and  (lefeiidiug  tScripture  ;  and  deists  fear- 
lessly applied  it  to  refute  all  revelation,  and  to  show  that 
no  testimony  is  competent  to  sustain  it.  The  weakness 
of  the  very  party  in  the  church,  which  opposed  the  low 
rationalism  of  the  day,  consisted  in  standing  upon  the 
same  philosophic  ground. 

Through  the  cooperation  of  those  agencies  upon  the 
popular  mind,  but  still  more  upon  the  educated,  through 
the  literature  growing  up  in  their  spirit,  and  the  fashion- 
able style  of  preaching,  rationalism  reached  its  full  devel- 
opment ere  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century 
began,  and  of  everything  in  religion  above  what  man 
can  do  for  himself  threatened  to  be  utterly  subversive. 

The  spirit  of  rationalism  was  far  from  new,  but  a  new 
form  of  it  was  thus  developed,  according  to  which  minis- 
ters of  the  christian  church  were  no  longer  witnesses  for 
Christ,  but  philosophers  to  demonstrate  a  coinmonsense 
theology,  and  to  enforce  it  by  so  explaining  Scripture  as 
to  exclude  everything  above  the  measure  of  common  ex- 
perience. 

Although  a  principle  wrapt  up  in  the  bosom  of 
Pietism,  when  brought  into  cooperation  with  agencies 
of  error,  conspired  to  the  production  of  pernicious  results, 
its  effect,  as  a  whole  upon  the  church  was  for  good. 
Many  who  adhered  tenaciously  to  the  formal  orthodoxy 
of  their  standards,  were  roused  to  greater  diligence  and 
zeal  in  the  study  of  Scripture;  some  as  symi)athizing 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Pietists,  and  some  as  strenuous 
champions  of  orthodoxy  against  all  innovations,  and 
against  all  separation  from  the  establishment.  Some 
accepted  the  philosophy  of  Wolf,  yet  retained  their  ortho- 
dox doctrine  and  consistent  christian  life,  and  labored  to 
defend  the  harmony  of  faith  with  their  philosophy. 
Others  took  the  symbols  of  their  church  simply  as  tliey 
stood,  as  objects  of  iiistory  :  their  doctrines  were  not  to 
be  subjected  to  the  test  of  any  man's  feelings,  or  to  the 
tribunal  of  any  man's  understanding,  but  simply  received 
or  rejected  as  they  stood.  Thus  were  Lutheran  theolo- 
gians divided. 

Halle  itself,  after  the  death  of  its  tirst  set  of  professors, 
began  to  divide  also  into  two  parties,  one  of  which  passed 


105 

over  to  rationalism,  while  the  other  went  to  an  opposite 
extreme  of  unscientifie  mysticism.  For  a  time  the  latter 
prevailed;  but  subsequently,  towards  the  end  of  the 
century,  and  far  into  the  next  the  University  came  almost 
entirely  under  the  control  of  rationalists. 

But,  even  when,  at  its  centre,  Pietism  had  become 
degenerate,  the  benign  influence  exerted  l)y  it  was  still 
alive,  in  connection  with  other  kindred  movements.  It 
molded  some  of  the  finest  products  of  German  literature, 
and  quickened  pastoral  labor  in  niany  a  quarter  where 
its  presence  was  not  recognized.  Its  gentle  and  kindly 
liberality  obtained  admission  for  it  with  a  few  German 
Catholics.  In  this  direction,  however,  the  histor}-  of 
religion  becomes  personal,  and  without  organization. 

A  more  important  outgrowth  of  Pietism  was  that 
which  gave  and  received  support  from  union  with  the 
remnant  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren. 

The  Moravians. 

In  the  Thirty  years  war,  the  calamities  which  fell 
upon  the  Bohemian  protestants  were  largely  shared  by 
the  Moravians,  who  were  counted  with  them.  Great 
numbers  suffered  death.  Their  churches  were  destroyed. 
"  Their  schools  were  closed,  and  their  Bibles,  and  other 
I'eligious  books  burned  beneath  the  gallows."  For  a 
long  time  their  community  barely  survived  in  a -state  of 
deep  depression.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  Bohemia  and  Moravia  were  completely  under 
the  papal  yoke.  In  that  depth  of  its  calamities  the  rem- 
nant of  those  sufl:ering  churches  had  provided  for  it  the 
friend,  wiio  established  it  upon  a  peaceful  and  secure 
foundation. 

One  of  the  pupils  of  the  Orphan  House,  at  Halle, 
Louis  Count  Zinzindorf,  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
doctrines  and  sufferings  of  that  much  persecuted  people, 
offered  a  remnant  of  their  community  a  settlement  and 
protection  on  his  estates  at  Berthelsdorf,  in  upper  Lusa- 
tia.  They  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  and  collected  in  such 
number  as  "to  make  a  little  village.  Their  first  settle- 
ment at  the  place  called  Herruhut  was  made  in  1722,  and 
in  1727,  they  accepted  the  terms  proposed  to  them  by 


106 

County  Ziiizindorf,  and  were  organized,  as  tlid  renewed 
church  of  tlie  United  Brethren,  in  accordance  with  his 
views,  as  a  missionary  cliurch.  In  1735  the  Count  himself 
became  their  bishop  ordained  by  a  Moravian  bishop  at 
Berlin.  Banished  from  Saxony,  with  a  few  companions, 
he  visited  most  nations  of  Xorthern  Kurope,  with  a  view 
to  the  remnants  of  their  own  communion,  now  widely 
dispersed.  In  1741,  he  visited  America,  and  set  on  foot 
•the  Moravian  system  of  missions  to  tlie  Indians,  and 
founded  the  schools  of  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Litiz, 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  Salem,  in  North  Carolina.  In 
1748,  he  tinally  obtaii.ed  from  the  ecclesiastical  council 
of  Electoral  Saxony  the  recognition  of  his  congregations 
as  connected  with  the  churclies  professing  tlie  Augsburg 
Confession.  By  the  influence  of  Archbishop  Potter,  the 
British  Parliament,  in  1749,  enacted  tliat  the  church  of 
the  United  Brethern  was  to  be  respected  as  a  Protestant 
Episcopal  churcli.  Some  of  them  were  already  residents 
of  England  and  formed  a  congregation  in  London.  With 
some  serious  mistakes  at  first,  which  were  subsequently 
corrected,  or  softened  down,  that  little  body  of  christians 
had  already  entered  upon  their  eftbrts  for  conversion  of 
the  world.  In  1732,  their  missionaries  went  to  Green- 
land ;  in  1734,  to  Lapland  ;  in  1736,  to  the  negroes  in 
Georgia;  in  the  same  3'ear,  to  the  Hottentots;  in  1737, 
to  the  coast  of  Guinea  ;  in  1739,  to  the  negroes  in  South 
Carolina;  also  in  that  year,  to  Algiers  ;  in  1740,  to  Cey- 
lon, to  the  Jews  at  Am8ter(Uim,  and  to  the  Gypsies,  and 
from  the  time  of  Zinzindorf's  visit  to  America,  several 
missions  were  established  among  the  Indians. 

Thus,  although  the  theology  of  Pietisjn  was  divided, 
and  underwent  some  change,  its  originally  benign  im- 
pulses extended  far  in  various  directions.  In  1815  the 
University  of  Wittenl)erg  was  removed  and  added  to  that 
of  Halle,  which  has  recently  been  greatly  revived. 

The  Wolpenbuttel  Fragments.. 

On  the  side  of  rationalism,  an  important  event  occur- 
red in  the  year  1774.  The  first  number  of  a  series  of 
articles  was  published  by  Lessing,  as  the  work  of  an 
unknown  author,  found  in  the  Library  of  Wolfenbiittel. 


^  107 

The  rest  appeared  at  different  times,  from  1774  to  1778, 
as  separated  fragments  ;  and  were  subsequently  found  to 
have  been  written  bj  Prof.  Reimarus,  of  Hamburg,  wbo 
had  died  in  1768. 

The  Wolfenbiittel  Fragments  argued  in  defence  of 
rationalism,  snd  against  the  possibiiity  of  a  revelation, 
which  sliould  possess  sufficient  evidence  to  render  it 
worthy  of  universal  confidence,  and  endeavored  to  explain, 
away  all  tliat  was  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature  in 
the  life  of  Jesus.  They  were  the  matured  fruit  of  a  style 
of  thinking,  which  for  more  than  a  whole  generation  had 
been  growing  up  by  the  developnient  and  union  of  vari- 
ous agencies.  The  philosophy  which  admitted  only 
common  experience,  and  tested  all  by  the  decisions  of 
mere  commonsense,  and  accejtted  as  true  that  alone 
which  coincided  clearl}'  with  their  measure,  was  of  course 
as  incapable  of  grasping  revelation,  as  a  man's  hand  is 
incapable  of  grasping  a  sunbeam. 

Great  opposition  was  made  to  the  Fragments.  But 
their  opponents  were  furnished  with  no  eflicient  weapon. 
For  they  all  used  the  same  method,  and  admitted  the 
same  pliilosopliic  principles.  Christians  then,  as  always, 
knew,  in  some  degree,  the  existence  of  a  spiritual  expe- 
rience within  tliem,  which  had  not  arisen  there  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature,  and  which  was  as  real  to  them 
as  the  information  of  the  senses;  but  it  was  not  within 
the  range  of  tlieir  philosoph}-.  Every  advantage  in  debate 
was  therefore  on  the  side  of  the  unbeliever:  and  the 
believer  rested  upon  what  his  philosophy  took  no  cogniz- 
ance of.  The  fragments  are  important  as  serving  to 
mark  an  epoch  of  rationalist  progress. 

tSWEDEXBORGIANISM. 

In  the  history  of  the  Lutheran  Churches  in  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries,  the  most  remarkable  event  was  the 
rise  of  Sweden borgianism,  which  had  no  peculiai-  relation 
to  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  inasmuch  as  it  claimed  to  be  a 
new  revelation,  setting  the  whole  of  the  foregoing  in  a 
new  light. 

Emmanuel  von  Swedenborg  was  a  Swedish  gentle- 
man of  great  learning  and  science,  who,  from  1743,  when 


108 

he  was  fifty-fonr  years  of  age  separated  himself  from  all 
secolhir  pursuits,  inchiditig  high  official  position  uiidor 
the  government  of  Sweden,  to  devote  himself  to  religious 
studies.  He  removed  to  London,  where  he  wrote  most 
of  his  mystic  works,  and  died  in  1772  at  an  advanced 
age. 

Sweden borg  professed  that  iji  the  year  1743,  his  eyes 
had  been  opened  to  see  into  the  spiritual  world,  and  that 
he  had  received  the  gift  of  understanding  tlie  language 
of  angels,  which  he  retained  to  the  end  of  his  days  ;  that 
he  had  enjoj-ed  revelations  directly  from  the  Lord,  and 
had  several  times  been  admitted  into  heaven.  In  Scrip- 
ture he  distinguished  two  meanings,  the  natural  and  the 
spiritual,  the  latter,  inclosed  in  the  former,  and  corres- 
ponding to  the  state  of  things  in  heaven.  A  number  of 
Scripture  books  he  rejected  as  not  inspired.  Other 
things  upon  earth  have  also  their  correspondencies  in 
heaven,  which,  relieved  from  earthly  grossness,  are  in 
form  and  relatively  to  their  surroundings  the  same  as 
those  upon  eartii.  He  taught  that  there  is  only  one  life, 
which  is  God,  and  all  the  Divine  Trinity  was  contained 
in  Christ.  He  rejected  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  held 
rnan  to  be  free,  but  exposed  to  the  influences  of  good  and 
evil  spirits,  and  indebted  to  God  for  all  the  good  that 
belongs  to  him.  According  to  his  doctrine,  justification 
is  not  by  faith  alone.  The  man^  who  has  charity — fears 
God,  and  works  righteousness — "  what  ever  his  religious 
sentiments  may  be,  will  be  saved."  Each  true  believer 
contains  the  church  in  himself.  The  outer  church  is  a 
society  composed  oi"  persons  in  each  of  whom  the  church 
is,  and  its  name  under  his  revelations,  is  the  church  of 
the  New  Jerusalem.  The  last  judgment  is  already  over. 
It  occurred  in  the  year  1757.  And  the  New  Jerusalem, 
predicted  in  the  Apocalypse,  has  descended  in  the  form 
of  the  New  Church. 

The  visions  of  Swedenborg  took  efiect  upon  certain 
minds  as  a  relief,  in  the  opposite  extreme,  from  prevail- 
ing rationalism,  and  was  the  more  acceptable  that  certain 
threads  of  rationalism  were  interwoven  with  it.  Of  late 
years  it  has  undergone  revision,  but  with  what  amount 
of  alteration  perhaps  none  but  its  adherents  correctly 
know. 


10!) 

II.     The  Reformed  Churches. 

Of  the  Reformed  Church  a  great  many  divisions 
might  be  made,  and  in  some  lights  vvouhl  seem  to  be 
necessary  to  a  complete  treatment  of  the  subject.  Closer 
inspection  discovers  that  real  grounds  of  difference  are 
much  fewer  than  they  seem.  The  broadest  and  most 
obvious  is  that  which  exists  in  reference  to  government, 
between  the  Prelatic  and  Anti-Prelatic.  On  that  scale 
they  may  be  classified  as  follows  : 

I.  Prtda'tic. 

1.  The  Reformed  Anoiican  C-hurdi. 

2.  The  Irish  Episcopal  Church. 

3.  The  Episcopal  Church  in  Scotland. 

4.  The  Episcopal  Churches  of  the  British  Colonies. 

5.  And  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United 
States  ;  retaining  the  Diocesan  Episcopacy,  without  the 
archiepisco{)al  rank  and  the  Primacy. 

II.  Anti-Prelatic. 

a.)  On  the  plan  of  government  by  Presbyters,  and 
organic  union  of  churches. 

1.  The  national  established  Church  of  Holland. 

2.  The  established  Churches  of  [)'rotestant  Switzer- 
land. 

3.  The  Reformed  Church  of  Erance. 

4.  The  German  Reformed  Churches,  in  as  far  as  not 
united  with  the  Lutheran. 

5.  The  Reformed  Church  of  Hungary,  associated  with 
the  Lutheran,  in  the  same  country. 

6.  Tlie  established  Church  of  Scotland,  with  all  its 
branches,  in  England  and  the  British  Colonies.  Also  its 
dissenters,  the  Free  Chnrcli  of  Scotland,  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian. 

7.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Ireland. 

8.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  in  America,  including 
the  descendants  of  various  European  nationalities. 

b.)  On  the  plan  of  government  by  Presbyters,  but 
without  organization  in  Presbyteries. 

1.  Independents. 

2.  Baptists,  who  in  government  are  independents. 

3.  Congregationalists. 


110 

4.  Methodists,  except  one  bniucl)  in  the  United  States, 
and  its  colonies  or  missions. 

III.   On  the   phin   of  combining  some   elements   of  the 
Episcoi)al  and  Presbyterian  systems. 

1.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America. 

2.  The  Moravians  and  Waldenses  begin  their  history 
prior  to  the  Reformation,  but  are  to  be  classed  witli  the 
Reformed  Churches  on  this  scale. 

In  respect  to  doctrine,  the  Reformed  cliurches  take 
their  stand  upon  the  ancient  Catholic  Ortliodoxy,  of  the 
Nicene  Creed,  and  the  theolog-y  of  Augustine,  wliich 
they  have  further  described  and  expounded.  The  varia- 
tions from  tliat  standard  have  been  chiefly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Arminian,  Pelagian,  or  Unitarian  doctrine.  But 
their  dismembered  condition  is  due  much  more  to  the 
violent  persecutions  to  which,  in  some  countries  they 
wei"e  long  subjected,  and  from  the  efl:ects  of  which  they 
have  not  yet  entirely  recovered. 

Protestantism    in  Hungary. 

While  the  Protestants  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia  were, 
in  the  issue  of  the  Thirty  years  war,  aknost  entirely 
crushed,  those  of  Hungary  proved  too  numerous  and 
strong  for  Jesuitical  success.  Through  the  skill  and 
noble  firmness  of  their  leader  Prince  Bethlen,  the  worst 
effects  of  that  war  were  averted,  and  subsequeiUly,  under 
the  Transylvanian  Rakotzy,  in  1645,  they  secured  the 
recognition  of  their  religious  rights  by  the  treaty  of  Linz. 
It  could  not  however  be  completely  carried  into  effect. 
When  the  war  closed,  the  Catholic  clergy  and  the  Jesuits, 
Vv'hose  power  was  then  reaching  its  prime,  combined  with 
the  King  and  the  army  to  exterminate  the  Protestants. 
That  severity  continued  from  the  accession  of  Leopold, 
in  1657,  until  his  death,  in  1705,  kept  in  check  to  some 
degree,  and  for  a  short  time,  by  the  Prince  Palatine 
Venelenyi  Hadad.  The  reign  of  Joseph  I.  was  more 
lenient.  His  early  death  was  a  serious  loss  to  the  Pro- 
testants. They  however  obtained  a  renewed  admissioti 
of  rights  soon  after,  in  the  peace  of  Szathmar,  May  10, 
1711,  which  v^'as  put  in  force  when  Charles  VI.  came  to 
the  throne,  1712  ;  but  not  without  much  interruption  by 


Ill 

the  Jesuits  and  Romish  Bishops.  Maria  Theresa,  from 
1741,  sustained  the  Jesuits,  and  [)ersecution  was  renewed, 
and  continued  through  all  her  sole  reign.  When  her 
son  Joseph  II.  hegan  to  assist  in  the  government,  oppres- 
sion had  some  limit  put  upon  it.  Soon  afterward  the 
Jesuit  order  was  abolished,  a  great  relief  to  Hungary. 
The  reforms  made  by  Joseph  II.  after  his  mother's  death, 
though  from  the  brevity  of  his  reign,  lacking  time  to 
mature,  were  a  great  blessing  to  Hungary,  and  to  the 
wliole  empire.  But  they  were  far  in  advance  of  the  age  : 
and  when  he  died,  in  17*90,  his  brother  Leopold  II,  who 
succeeded  him  on'  the  throne  for  two  years,  alone  appre- 
ciated, and  labored  to  maintain  them.  Leopold  II,  died 
1792,  while  the  iirst  scenes  of  the  great  revolution  were 
being  acted  in  France.  The  next  heir  of  tlie  empire 
Francis  II.  allowed  the  old  ecclesiastical  despotism,  as 
far  as  was  practic.ible,  to  creep  back  into  its  place. 
Through  all  liis  reign,  the  complaints  again_st  it  lie  an- 
swered with  promises,  which  he  never  made  an  effort  to 
keep,  until  it  became  impossible  for  liim,  had  he  wished 
it. 

Church  of  Geneva. 

Orthodoxy  was  still,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
taught  in  the  schools,  and  preached  in  the  churches  of 
Geneva.  Francis  Turretiu  died  in  1687.  It  seemed  as 
if  he  had  built  u[)  defences  of  the  truth  which  could  never 
be  broken  down.  Dependence  upon  ins  work  more  than 
upon  the  direct  lessons  of  Scripture  may  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  subsequently  diminished  effect  of 
that  work.  His  gifted  son,  J.  Alfons  Turretiu,  silently 
drifted  in  the  direction  of  a  unitarian  theology.  And 
after  his  death,  1737,  tlie  progress  was  rapid,  Arian  and 
Socinian  doctrines  had  before  the  end  of  the  century 
"  usurped  tlie  pulpits  of  Calvin  and  Beza."  It  was  a 
change  effected  by  the  working  of  the  same  popular  ptiil- 
osophy,  which  was  bringing  about  similar  changes  else- 
where. 

Moreover,  some  of  the  leaders  of  French  Deism  were 
connected  with  Geneva,  or  its  vicinity,  and  helped  for- 
ward the  causes  working  to  that  end.     Such  were  Rou- 


112 

seau  and  Voltaire,  to  wlioiii  may  be  added  the  English- 
man Gibbon,  who  spent  the  best  part  of  his  days  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake  of  Geneva.  The  ministers  of  that 
canton,  it  is  true,  condemned  the  godlessness  of  Rousean  ; 
and  thereby'  provoked  his  scathing  criticism  of  them- 
selves; but  they  were  not  in  condition  to  encounter  him 
on  the  solid  ground  of  Scripture  faith  and  doctrine.  The 
two  great  French  deists  died  in  the  same  3^ear,  1778,  and 
the  Englishman  in  1794. 

Reformed  Church  of  France. 

The  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  which  Henry  IV.  granted 
toleration  to  protestants  in  France,  was  revoked  in  1685. 
h  was  at  an  enormous  sacrifice  of  the  national  industry 
that  Louis  XIV.  granted  that  favor  to  Jesuit  policy. 
When  he  found  his  skilled  artisans  leaving  the  country 
by  hundreds  and  thousands  lie  applied  violence  to  retain 
them,  waylaying  them  by  detachments  of  military.  Not- 
withstanding at  least  half  a  million  of  his  most  valuable 
subjects,  whom  he  had  outlawed,  found  their  way  into 
Holland,  Switzerland,  England,  -America,  and  other 
countries.  Those  who  remained  in  France  were  subjected 
to  every  annoyance  conceivable,  with  the  view  of  harass- 
ing them  into  Romanism.  Their  sufferings  excited  and 
disordered  the  minds  of  many.  Fanatics  arose  among 
them,  known  in  England  as  the  French  prophets.  In 
Languedoc  they  organized  resistance,  and  under  the 
name  of  Camisards,  successfully  defended  themselves 
with  arms  for  twenty  years.  In  1704,  they  laid  down 
their  arms,  upon  receiving  fair  promises,  and  their  leader 
John  Cavalier,  and  some  of  the  rest  entered  the  King's 
service.  Cavalier  afterwards  removed  to  England.  What- 
ever his  expectations  of  relief  to  his  followers,  they  were 
not  realized.  Persecution  went  on.'  Protestants  were 
harassed  with  military  execution,  many  of  thetu  were  put 
to  death,  and  their  churches  were  seized  or  destroyed. 
And  yet,  after  all,  some  two  millions  remained  attached 
to  the  Reformed  Church.  Wherever  their  exiles  took 
refuge,  they  proved  to  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the  in- 
dustry and  moral  character  of  the  population. 

The  injury  to  France  appeared  in  various  ways.  The 
morals  of  the  people  degenerated  ;  their  intellectual  free- 


113 

dom  declined  ;  tlie  national  superiority  in  manufactures 
came  to  an  end;  and  the  guilty  King's  success  in  arms 
began  to  waver,  until  after  repeated  defeats,  lie  was  con- 
straijied  to  beg  for  peace,  and  escaped  the  most  humilia- 
ting terms  only  by  a  party  in  tlie  council  of  Ids  enenues. 

Louis  XV,  succeeded  his  grandfather,  in  1715,  and 
retained  the  throne  sixty  years,  during  the  whole  of 
which  time  the  Huguenots  were  out  of  the  protection  of 
law.  Their  church  was  in  the  desert.  By  the  royal 
declaration  of  1729,  the  penalty  for  preaching  the  gospel 
was  death,  and  for  affording  comfort  or  shelter  to  the 
preachers,  imprisonment,  or  the  galleys. 

In  the  end  of  the  comparatively  lenient  administra- 
tion of  Fleury,  1744,  the  Reformed  of  France  made  a 
heroic  attempt  to  collect  their  energies,  and  held  their 
lirst  national  synod.  The  activity  of  persecution  was 
forthwith  renewed, and  continued,  with  greater  or  less  vio- 
lence, all  the  rest  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV. 

The  more  humane  character  of  Louis  XVI,  who  suc- 
ceeded in  1774,  a!id  the  more  liberal  sentiments  begin- 
ning to  prevail  in  Society  had  an  eifect  favorable  to  light- 
ening the  weight  of  oppression.  But  it  was  not  until 
Louis  XVI.  had  been  on  the  throne  twelve  years  that 
any  action  was  taken  to  remove  the  disabilities  of  pro- 
testants.  Li  1787,  an  Edict,  which  met  with  great  oppo- 
sition in  the  French  Pai-liament,  was  got  out,  granting 
them  permission  to  meet  for  public  worship,  and  the 
right  to  hold  firoperty  and  to  bequeath  it.  But  for  that 
they  were  indebted,  not  to  any  relaxation  of  Romish  in- 
tolerance, or  to  royal  favor,  but  to  the  rising  tide 
of  rationalism,  which  soon  afterwards  broke  the  complex 
tyranny,  and  scattered  its  distinctions  to  the  waves. 

The  Reformed  Church  of  Holland. 

In  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Holland 
there  are  four  successive  periods  distinctly  marked  ;  first 
from  the  Reformation  to  the  national  Synod  of  Dort 
(Dordrecht)  1618-19  ;  second,  from  1618  until  the  intro- 
duction of  Xeology,  about  1775  ;  third,  from  that  latter 
date,  through  the  decline  of  Orthodoxy  and  disorganiza- 
tion brought  about  by  revolution,  until  the  reconstruc- 


114 

tioii  of  Clitircli  order  in  1816  ;  and  foiii-th,  from  1816  until 
the  present  time. 

By  action  of  the  General  Svnod  of  Dort,  Calvinism 
was  strongly  maintained  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
in  opi^osition  to  Arminianism,  which  was  (^lelined  off  as 
heresy.  The  Remonstrants,  as  tiie  Arminian  party  were 
called,  from  the  i-cmonstrance  presented  hy  them  to  the 
States-General  of  Holland  in  1610,  thons^h  greatly  in 
the  minority,  did  not  cease  to  he  an  important  religious 
sect,  and  in  course  of  time  were  morally  strengtliened  hy 
adherents  to  their  doctrines  elsewhere. 

The  five  heads  of  doctrine  of  theSynod  of  Dortthence- 
forward  continued  to  be  the  theological  standards  of  the 
Church  of  Holland.  They  treat  of  Divine  predestination, 
of  the  death  of  Christ,  in  its  sufficiency  to  save  sinners, 
of  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  of  its  regeneration  and 
redenjption  b\-  sovereign  grace,  and  of  the  perseverance 
of  the  saints. 

From  the  general'Synod  of  1618-19,  until  1816,  the 
Synods  which  followed  were  onl}-  provincial.  Most  of 
the  intervening  time,  each  provinc^e  had  its  own  church 
government.  They  were  all  similarl}-  organized,  and 
kept  up  their  connection  by  deputies  whom  the  provin- 
cial syn()ds  sent  to  one  another. 

The  period  from  1618  to  1775  was  one  of  very  active 
theological  discussions;  and  deep  into  the  heart  of  them, 
at  an  early  stage,  entei-ed  the  Cartesian  philosophy.  Es- 
sentially skeptical,  it  was  condemned  by  the  States-Gen- 
eral in  1656,  but  could  not  by  such  action  be  excluded 
from  individual  thinking.  Baruch^'Spinoza,  a  Jew  of 
Portuguese  parentage,  born  at  Amsterdam  in  1632  (d 
1677),  created  also  some  sensation  by  his  system  of  pan- 
theism, but  wrought  less  harm  in  Holland  than  in  Ger- 
many. 

The  ablest  adversary  of  Descartes  was  Voetius,  Prof, 
of  theology  at  Utrecht  (d  1677).  the  advocate  of  an  elab- 
orate scholasticism,  inti'oduced  by  Maccopius  prof,  of 
Theo.  at  Franeker  (d  1644)  which  went  to  make  'the 
whole  subject  of  religion  a  branch  of  philosophy,  on  the 
basis  of  the  Calvinistic  system. 

That  however  created  a  reaction  from  the  side  of 
those  who  dreaded  its  effects  in  a  hard  formulizing  of 


^. 


Y^f  7/      ^^    '^^''^ 


b^f  ''-> 


115 

everything,  alike  in  science  and  re'ligious  lite.  .John 
Oocceius,  prof,  at  Franeker  and  Leyden  (d.  1669)  labored 
to  bring  theology  back  to  the  Scriptures,  and  instituted 
what  has  been  called  the  Federal  Theology,  from  the 
fundamental  ideas  which  it  presented  ot  a  '•  two  fold  cov- 
enant of  God  with  man."  Christ  was  its  central  idea. 
It  dwelt  largely  upon  the  tyi»es  which  foreshadowed  him 
and  the  prophecies  of  his  coming.  The  sj'stem  is  con- 
tained in  the  works  of  Cocceius  called  '■'■  Siunyna  doctrinae 
de  Focdere  et  Testnmento  Dei,'"  and  "  Samma  Theolor/icae  ex 
Scripturis  repelita,"  and  inspires  his  voluminous  commen-  ^  .  ' 

taries.     Tt  was  further  developed  by  his  followers,  Bur-  'TCrJit 

mann,  Heidanus  and  Witsius.  Thus  the  main  current 
of  debate  for  a  hundred  years,  was  determined  by  the 
systems  of  Voetius  and  Cocceius,  Political  parties 
sought  their  aid,  the  supporters  of  the  Prince  of  Orange 
taking  sides  with  the  Voetians  ;  and  the  liberal  Repub- 
licans wnth  the  C(>c(;eians.  Arnoi  g  the  Arminians  the 
most  gifted  and  learned,  in  the  first  half  of  the  17th  cen 
tury,  was  Hugo  Grotius  (d.  1645),  who  amid  Ins  many 
political  and  legal  labors,  found  Hme  to  write  with  much 
effect  in  defence  of  the  christian  religion. 

The  17th  century  and  first  half  of  the  18th  constituted 
to  Holland  her  most  illustrious  period  of  theological 
authors   and    classical  scholars.     Her   universities  were 


then  in    their    prime.     With    their   strict    standards    of       r,       j 
Orthodoxy  and  liberal   toleration,  the  United   Provinces   ^ '^'-^  ' 


became  a  safe  assylum  for  religious  refugees  from  perse-    r.  '</  uL 

cution  in  other  lands.  -^ 

The  debates  arising  out  of  the  Cartesian  philosophy, 
as  well  as  for  aiid  against  its  influence  in  theology,  grad- 
ually died  out,  in  the  course  of  the  18th  century,  as  the 
Newtonian  system  took  its  plac6  in  the  Dutch  Univer- 
sities. 

In  tlie  line  of  freetliinking,  Peter  Bayle,  a  French 
Protestant,  who  took  refuge  in  Holland,  where  he  had 
been  appointed  to  a  professorship  at  Rotterdam,  pub- 
lished wliile  there  several  works  on  religion,  morals  and 
general  literature,  which  attained  great  celebrity,  espec- 
ially his  Dictionary  historical  and  critical,  wliich  appeared 
in  1697.     It  was  constructed  on  a  plan  admitting  of  the 


116 

utmost  freedom  in  the  choice  and  treatment  of"  topics — 
an  alphabetical  arrangement  unpledged  to  completeness 
in  any  department,  with  notes  appended  at  will.  Great 
was  the  inHuence  of  the  book  npon  both  historical  criti- 
cism and  popular  thinking.  Thougli  not  an  ojjponent 
of  Christianity,  Bayle  was  unsettled  in  his  views  of  truth, 
and  applied  himself  to  the  exhibition  of  difficulties,  col- 
lecting materials  for  others  of  more  decided  purjiose  to 
use.     He  died  in  1706  under  the  charge  of  heresy. 

In  the  midst  of  many  adversaries,  and  in  the  exercise 
of  a  liberal  toleration,  the  Church  of  Holland,  thi'ough 
the  greater  part  of  the  18th  century,  saw  lier  Reformed 
Orthodoxy  well  maintained.  But  a  change  crept  in. 
What  was 'called  the  "  New  Light,"  as  advanced  by  Kle- 
man,  1774,  in  his  work  on  the  connection  between  Grace 
and  Duty,  and  by  Hammelsfeld  and  other  writers,  near 
the  same  date,  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  incipient  mani- 
festation of  that  error,  which  for  a  time  almost  submerged 
the  ortliodoxy  of  Dort.  Although  Kleman  retracted  his 
error,  and  others  submitted  to  restraint  in  the  use  of 
words  of  heretical  meaning,  yet  the  influx  of  Deism  from 
England,  and  of  Atheism  from  France,  proved  stronger 
than  tlie  barriers  erected  against  them.  And  in  the  effect 
of  rationalism  from  Germany,  of  the  Kantian,  as  well  as 
■»^i/u<A^c-'4,^  ^  eommonsense  type,  in  accordance  with  which  most  of 
the  ministers  learned  to  think;  even  where  no  positive 
error  was  advanced,  the  Orthodox  faith  began  to  l)e 
preached  in  a  cold  and  lifeless  manner. 

It  was  a  melancholy  view  which  the  continent  of 
Europe  presented  to  the  Christian  at  the  opening  of  the 
last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


117 

TllK  RATIONALIST  REVOLUTION. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  verge  of  a  grant  juiK'tiire  in 
the  lii-tory  of  Christendom,  a  point  upon  which  numy 
potent  and  far  spreading  causes  liave  converged  their 
effects. 

Monarchy  liad  h)st  much  in  the  thirty  yeai's  and  suc- 
ceeding wars,  and  was  no  h)nger  able,  as  in  tlie  sixteenth 
century,  to  withstand  an  onset  of  the  educated  pui)Iic. 
Great  Britain  was  ah-eady  a  constitutional  monai'chy, 
governed  by  the  national  representatives.  And  yet  it 
was  in  one  of  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain  tliat  tiie  peo- 
ple in  defence  of  that  vei-y  i)rinciple,  commenced  success- 
fully tlie  cai'eer  of  revolution.  In  Prussia,  at  the  court 
of  Frederick  II.,  lu^d  l)een  set  up  the  lieadquarters  of 
a  godless  philosophy  which,  derived  from  France,  and 
in  tlic  style  of  French  thinking,  was  corrupting,  by  Gal- 
licizing the  literature  as  well  as  the  religion  nnd  moral 
force  of  Germany.  Fi-ance  had  just  seen  tlie  death  of  her 
gi'eatest  deistical  wi-iters  ;  but  theii"  works  were  in  the  full 
tide  of  popularity,  and  tlieir  main  force  was  directed 
against  despotism  and  irrational  faith — tlie  oppressive 
bondage  of  life  and  conscience  which  had. been  and  still 
was  carried  to  the  last  extreme  in  France. 

The  German  empire,  at  that  juncture,  was  governed 
by  a  wiser  licad  and  a  better  heart.  But  the  broad  and 
thorougii  reforms  of  the  emperor  Joseph  II.  were  too  far 
in  advance  of  the  time,  to  be  duly  appi-eciated  even  by 
the  people  whose  real  interests  tiiey  promoted,  and  his 
reign,  with  that  of  his  brother,  did  not  last  h)ng  enough 
to  give  practical  demonstration  of  their  benefits.  Simi- 
lar tendencies  were  manifesting  themselves  elsewhere; 
but  more  generally  among  the  people,  and  especially  the 
educated  classes.  Trie  resistance  of  Rome  proved  inef- 
fectuah  Her  arm  was  paralyzed,  and  lier  weapons  fell 
short.  She  had  been  the  hereditary  and  close  ally  of  a 
despotism  which  in  France  was  no  longer  to  be 
tolerated.  Public  opinion  had  reached  a  precipice. 
All  existing  authorities,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  were 
coming  under  the  charge  of  imposture.  They 
had  been  united  in  extorting,  by  deceit  and  violence,  the 


118 

ed  ill  utter  inability  to  surrender  more.  To  the  religious, 
moral  and  political  crisis  was  added,  as  really  a  fruit  of 
the  same  causes  in  the  government  of  France,  a  complete 
financial  failure. 

As  a  last  resort  of  the  government  to  procure  money, 
a  meeting  of  selected  notables  was  called  in  1788,  by 
whom  an  assembly  of  the  States-General  was  advised. 
That  assembly,  which  met  in  May  of  next  year,  was,  in 
the  main,  representative  of  the  mind  of  France.  The 
force  of  opinion  which  had  been  forming  for  two  or  three 
generations  soon  appeared.  The  leading  minds  proved 
to  be  pupils  of  Rousseau,  accepting  the  doctrines  of  the 
Contrat  Social.  Self-constituted  the  National  Assembly, 
June  16,  it  gave  place,  Sept.  21,  to  the  National  Conven- 
tion, constituted  in  the  same  spirit.  Reason  was  en- 
throned, and  everything  was  rejected  that  militated 
against  the  populai-  theory.  The  movement  became 
bolder  as  it  proceeded.  In  the  course  of  three  years  the 
monarchy  was  demolished,  the  king,  first  reduced  to 
helplessness,  then  kept  prisoner,  was  finally  led  to  the 
scaffold.  A  republic  was  proclaimed.  The  churches 
were  plundered,  their  silver  plate  sent  to  the  mint  to  be 
coined,  their  religious  services  were  interrupted.  Priests 
were  to  be  found  among  the  officers  of  the  revolutionary 
government.  Those  who  refused  to  submit,  or  were 
suspected  to  be  dangerous,  if  they  failed  to  escape 
into  exile,  were  condemned  to  death.  Another 
stage  was  reacbed,  the  doctrinaires  and  philosophers 
were  outrun  by  the  popular  passions  which  they  had 
aroused.  The  leadei's  of  the  mob  grasped  the  power. 
Philosophers  themselves  became  the  suspected.  A  reign 
of  terror  ensued.  None  could  feel  safe.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  see,  from  day  to  day,  what  new  turn  the  move- 
ment might  take.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris  abandoned 
his  profession  and  joined  the  revolution.  The  churches 
from  which  Gospel  Christianity  had  been  so  long  ban- 
ished by  its  professed  ministers,  were  given  up  to  the 
wantonness  of  the  mob,  and  to  mummeries  under  the  name 
of  reason.  Instead  of  church  festivals,  came  days  con- 
secrated to  genius,  to  labor,  to  perfection  and  othei* 
abstractions. 


119 

A  symptom  of  reaction  appeared  in  a  national  festival 
in  honor  of  the  Supreme  Being,  celebrated  on  the  8th  of 
July,  1794,  and  in  which  Robesjiierre  officiated  as  a 
priest.  After  five  years  of  a  government  by  reason,  peo- 
ple began  to  long  for  tranquility,  ready  almost  to  accept 
the  direction  of  any  strong  rule  which  could  secure  it. 
But  consequences  had  been  incurred  which  were  not  yet 
exhausted.  Armies  were  employed  to  enforce  French 
freedom  upon  the  nations.  The  Directory  which  sent 
them  out  was  soon  overwhelmed  by  the  most  successful 
of  their  generals,  who  rapidly  rose  from  one  degree  of 
power  to  another,  until  he  had  gathered  all  the  reins  of 
govei-ument  into  his  dwn  hands.  France  became  his 
treasure  house,  and  iier  armies  his  weapons  with  which 
to  scourge  the  nations,  and  build  up  an  empire  to  his 
own  glory.  In  the  wars  successively  of  the  republic,  the 
directory,  the  consulate,  and  the  empire,  the  penalty  fell 
upOTi  the  whole  of  Europe  The  political  systems  of  Ger- 
many were  dissolved,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Romanic 
States  to  the  south.  The  constitutional  forms  of  both 
the  Kornish  and  Lutheran  churches  were  shaken  at  the 
centre  of  their  dominions.  Tlie  heaviest  blows  fell  where 
historical  justice  demanded,  upon  tiie  head  of  the  Papacy 
and  its  champions,  the  houses  of  Bourbon  and  of  Ilaps- 
burg,  and,  on  the  side  of  the  uncliristian  rationalists, 
upon  thecourt  of  Berlin,  and  the  revolutionists  of  France 
themselves.  Prussia  was  for  a  time  erased  from  the  list 
of  kingdoms,  the  Old  German  Empire  was  extinguished, 
the  donation  of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  to  the  Papacy 
was  revoked,  and  the  Pope,  who  protested,  was  seized 
by  order  of  Napoleon,  and  consigned  to  prison. 

In  the  early  years  of  that  revolution,  the  enthusiasm 
which  tired  the  armies  of  France  was  that  of  the  propa- 
agan(hi  of  reason.  Napoleon,  in  the  course  of  time,  ex- 
tinguished it,  by  putting  himself  in  the  place  of  reason. 
That  the  political  movement  was  the  outgrowth  of  the 
doctrines  of  Rouseau  was  declared  by  the  National 
Assembly  in  the  public  honors  paid  to  that  illustrious 
author.  The  actuating  principle,  though  the  growth  of 
many  causes,  was  one.  It  was  the  thorough  conviction 
that  the  world  was  livino:  in  falsehood  and  sufferino-  for 


120 

it,  and  that  the  popuhir  philosophy  was  riglit,  and  that 
its  establishment  over  the  world  would  abolisli  the  worst 
evils  ot"  hnnian  life. 

Against  such  a  powerful  motive  the  other  Komisli 
nations,  and  the  Protestant  on  the  Continent  were  feeble  ; 
for  the  very  reason  that  they  entertained  no  doctrine 
adequate  to  resist  it.  The  same  way  of  thinking  leav- 
ened deeply  their  own  ranks.  The  soldiers  of  Germany 
and  Italy  fought  in  defence  of  their  countries,  it  is  true, 
but  also  of  institutions  in  the  justice  of  which  they  did 
not  believe,  and  the  oppressiveness  of  which  they  hated. 
The  French  fought  on  the  side  of  their  cordial  convic- 
tions, and  tirmly  believed  themselves  the  liberators  of 
tlie  world.  When  French  armies  lost  that  impulse  in 
seeing  a  des[tot  appi'opriate  all  to  himself,  their  victories 
began  to  lack  in  brilliancy;  and  when  still  further,  they 
they  came  into  contiict  with  a  people,  wlio  were  never 
much  impressed  by  their  principles, and,  asa  whole,  were 
as  tenacious  of  the  opposite,  as  in  the  case  partly  of  Eng- 
land, and  entirely  of  J^ussia,  the  issue  of  war  was  reversed. 
Never  was  anything  in  [iractice  more  truly  logical  than 
the  French  Revolution.  The  world  beheld  with  horror 
its  inhuman  crueltie>,  and  desecration  of  every  thing 
holy;  but  it  was  only  the  reduction  to  practice  of  doc- 
trines which  had  been  taught  under  sanction  of  the 
church,  or  which  the  church  had  encountered  with  only 
authority  and  penalties.  Systematic  suppression  of  gos- 
[>el  truth,  in  the  liomish  connection,  had  wrought  effects 
kindred  to  tiiose  of  a  worldlimindedness  in  the  Protest- 
ant, and  the  populai'  {)hilosophy  had,  to  a  great  extent, 
undermined  the  foundations  of  christian  faith  in  both. 

Like  the  Englisli  commonwealth,  the  French  Revo- 
lution ended  in  what  seemed  to  be  utter  failure,  and  yet 
was  not  failure.  The  immediate  purposes  of  the  actors 
did  not,  succeed,  but  changes  were  effected,  and  jtiMuci- 
ples  were  planted  to  germinate  and  l>ear  good  fruit  in 
years  to  come. 

The  reign  of  rationalism  was  not  all  for  evil.  It 
swept  away  certain  superstitions,  which  the  world  is  well 
rid  of,  and  put  an  end  to  certain  traditionary  beliefs, 
which   had   nothing  but  tradition   to   recommend  them, 


121 

and  practices  which  were  a  boii(hige  to  society.  Goveni- 
ments  were  not  all  forthwith  reconstructed  as  constitu- 
tional, but  the  working  of  ideas,  tJien  establishe<l  in  the 
minds  of  men,  has  ever  since  been  in  that  direction.  It 
would  not  be  possible  now  to  govern  any  European 
nation  as  France  was  governed  in  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.,  while  the  power  of  the  Romish  hierarchy  was  so 
broken  that  its  former  breadth  and  intensity  of  oppres- 
sion have  not  since  been  united. 

A  New  PniLof^opnY. 

While  that  practical  revolution  was  going  on,  which 
had  its  centre  in  France,  another  was  passing  over  the 
philosophy  and  religious  views  of  Germany.  It  was  a 
better  method  of  thought  that  the  thinking  world  needed. 
And  a  new,  if  not  a  better,  at  that  time  arose. 

Emmanuel  Kant  was  born  in  1724,  at  Konigsberg  in 
Prussia.  He  entered  the  university  of  that  city  in  1740, 
and  as  student,  tutor  and  professor,  spent  his  life  in  con- 
nection with  it.  In  1770  he  was  elected  to  the  ordinary 
professorship  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics,  which  he  held 
until  1794,  when  he  resigned  owing  to  the  inlirmities  of 
age.  He  died  in  1804.  His  great  work,  the  Critique  of 
the  Pure  Reason,  was  publislied  in  1781,  his  Critique  of 
the  Practical  Reason,  in  1788,  his  Critique  of  the  J'udg- 
ment,  in  1790,  and  in  1793,  his  Religion  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Pure  Reason.  Other  publications  from 
his  pen  appeared  within  the  same  time,  and  until  1798. 

The  Philosophy  of  Kant. was  transcendental  in  rela- 
tion to  the  popular  philosophy  of  that  day,  using  tran- 
scendental as  applied  to  the  a  priori,  or  necessary  cogni- 
tions, which  transcend  the  sphere  of  the  knowledge 
acquired  by  experience;  but  it  was  discriminately  a 
critical  philosophy,  a  criticism  of  the  very  foundations 
upon  which  its  predecessor  stood,  and  took  for  settled. 
Its  criticism  was  of  the  mental'  faculties  with  a  view  to 
ascertain  invariable  and  necessary  principles,  to  define 
their  usage,  and  to  form  an  estimate  of  them,  "  with 
reference  to  their  formal  character."  Making  the  mind 
the  centre  of  its  system  it  sought  to  prepare  the  way  by 
means  of  self-knowledge  for  a  better  state  of  philosophi- 


122 

eal  science.  But  the  forms  of  thought  to  wliich  univer- 
sality and  necessity  beh)ng  are  subjective,  and  the  work 
of  Kant  was  merely  a  critical  treatment  of  the  phenonsena 
of  Consciousness.  It  opened  no  avenue  to  a  knowledge 
of  objective  being. 

While  the  new  j)hilosophy  was  slowly  making  its 
way  among  leading  thfnkers,  and  its  progress,  for  many 
years  was  very  slow,  the  |)Opnlar  rationalists  carried  the 
api)lication  of  their  principles  to  the  hist  extreme.  One 
of  the  most  thorougli  going  of  the  class  was  Pan  Ins  a 
professor  at  Heidelberg,  who  published  a  life  of  Jesus,  a 
commentary  on  the  New  Testament,  and  other  works. 
Extracts  from  his  criticism  of  Scripture  are  sometimes 
given  as  si)ecimens  of  i-ational  exegesis,  striking  enough 
to  secure  attention,  but  belonging  rather  to  the  extreme 
than  to  the  average.  He  died  as  hite  as  1851,  at  tlie  age 
of  ninety. 

Kant  was  a  chi'istian  :  but  his  practical  faith  had  no 
root  in  his  philoso])hy,  in  which  the  objective  stands 
unknown  and  unknowable,  and  the  inner  consciousness 
is  the  only  thing  absolutely  necessary  and  stable.  His 
treatment  of  Christianity  went  to  merge  it  in  a  moral 
system.  God  and  the  facts  of  revelation,  belonging  to  the 
objective,  the  human  reason  can  never  immediately  know 
them.  A  grtiat  gulf  was  left  between  the  cognizing 
subject  and  all  outer  things. 

Solution  of  that  difficulty  became  the  starting  point 
for  several  subsequent  philosophies.  Fichte.  a  professor 
at  Jena,  and  finally  at  Berlin,  believed  that  he  had  found 
the  solution  in  the  intuition  of  the  Ego.  Intelligent 
being  he  designated  \\\(i  Ego  :  and  all  objective  existence, 
as  the  7ion  Ego.  By  an  act  of  faith  the  former  grasps  and 
absorbs  the  latter  into  itself.  In  the  adoption  of  that 
principle,  the  transcendental  philosophy  was  essentially 
changed  throughout.  Thinking  shaped  every  thing  else. 
And  alike  God  and  the  Universe  were  what  the  mind 
conceived  them  to  be.  God  was  the  moral  order  of  the 
universe,  not  existence  but  action  ;  the  universal  ego  in 
its  activity  and  without  limit. 

The  Fichtean  philosophy,  or  as  it  was  called  philoso- 
phy of  faith  or  science  of  knowing,  had  a  more  immedi- 


123 

ate  popularity  than  the  critical,  but  left  no  such  solid 
work  behind  it,  except  in  the  extraordinary  quickening 
of  intellectual  activity  which  it  occasioned.  A  large  class 
of  literary  men  accepted  its  doctrines,  as  opening-'a  wider 
range  to  the  imagination. 

Among  the  followers  of  Fichte  the  greatest  eminence 
was  attained  by  Shelling  and  Hegel.  The  former,  while 
yet  a  youth,  startled  the  philosophical  world  by  a  theory 
of  even  greater  boldness  than  that  of  his  master.  "  To 
be,"  said  this  new  philosophy,  "  is  to  know."  It  derived 
all  knowledge,  not  from  the  partial  principle  of  the  Er/o, 
but  from  the  absolute  — the  identity  ot  subject  and  object, 
or,  of  knowing  and  being.  God  is  the  absolute,  which 
represents  itself  as  divided  into  the  spheres  of  mind  and 
nature,  just  as  in  the  magnet  we  perceive  the  difference 
of  the  positive  and  negative  poles,  and  can  realize  him- 
self onl\-  in  the  existence  of  the  universe,  and  especiallv 
of  iiuman  nature.  This  was  the  central  pom.t  of  the 
philosophy  of  identity.  It  presented  the  outline,  which 
Hegel  afterward's  described  more  firmly  and  tilled  up  in 
liis  own  way. 

Hegel's  system  was  variously  called  the  philosophy 
of  reason,  of  the  absolute,  or,  of  the  ideal.  It  conceived 
of  the  absolute  as  the  concrete  unity  of  nature  and  mind. 
This  unity  Hegel  called  the  Idea.  It  is  not  oiily  the 
absolute  content  of  all  thinking,  but  also  the  substance 
of  all  being.  And  the  field  of  the  Hegelian  philosophy 
is  mapped  out  by  the  science  of  the  idea  in  and  for  itself, 
the  science  of  tlie  idea  representing  itself  externally,  and 
the  science  of  its  return  within  itself,  as  Logic,  Natural 
Philosophy  and  Mental  Philosophy  respectively.  And 
the  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  these  are  ramified  out 
to  a  treatment  of  all  known  or  conceivable  existence. 
Religion  comes  under  the  Third  head,  and  is  defined  as  the 
true  in  the  form  of  mental  representation.  Christianity,  as 
the  religion  inwhich  the  unity  of  the  divine  and  human  is 
presented,  contains  the  ultimate  point  of  all  truth.  But 
the  lower  form  alone  of  the  idea  is  possessed  in  the  seve- 
ral facts  of  christian  history  and  dogma. 

It  was  under  the  hand  of   Hegel  that  the  transcen- 
dental philosophy  reached  its  completeness.      After  his 


124 

death  his  followers  divided   into  several   sects,  and  that 
particular  style  of  thiidvino;  gradually  lost  its  power, 

Hegel's  work  was  done  chiefly  from  1817, when  he 
coniinenced  the  journal  for  scientific  criticism;  until  1831, 
wiien  he  died.  Shelling's  philosophical  career  was  com- 
menced in  his  21st  year,  when  he  was  a  student  at  Jena,  and 
continued  until  1812,  when  he  was  thirty-seven.  From 
that  date  until  1841  he  published  nothing  on  philosophy. 
In  1841  he  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of  philosophy  in 
Berlin  ;  but  did  not  equal  in  power  or  attractiveness 
himself  in  his  early  days.  If  he  gained  less  glory  as 
a  philosoplier,  he  left  the  impression  that  he  had  become 
a  truer  christian.  He  soou-withdrew  again  to  his  retire- 
ment, and  died  at  Ragatz  in  Switzerland,  August 
20,  1854. 

FoUovvei's  of  those  great  teachers,  and  holders  to  their 
systems,  though  dissenting  from  some  of  their  doctrines, 
luive  been  numerous,  andsoine  of  hardly  inferior  renown. 
And  out  of  this  new  plnlosophy,  and  especially  that  of 
Hegel,  arose  the  later  style  of  rationalism,  more  profound, 
more  imaginative,  of  vastly  wider  range  and  abler  gras[) 
than  its  predecessor,  but  equally  productive  of  error. 
Other  elements  have  also  entered  into  it  from  one  side 
and  another,  going  more  or  less  to  modify  the  philosoph 
ical.  Pietism,  Moravianism,  strict  Lutheranism,  or 
Calvinism  not  orJy  continued  to  assert  themselves  sepa- 
rately, but  have  also  had  tlieir  share  in  shaping  the 
speculative  views  of  later  rationalists. 

In  tJie  division,  which  followed  the  deatli  of  Hegel, 
the  pantheistic  branch  of  his  philosophy  grafted  itself  on 
the  university  of  Tlihingen,  whicli  had  formerly  been 
pietist;  and  there  produced  its  fruits  in  the  writings  of 
Strauss,  Zeller  and  Christian  Banr,  while  others,  like 
Daub,  Marheincke  and  Dorner,  took  the  opposite  course 
towards  a  more  scriptural  doctrine.  The  extremes  may 
be  represented  by  Strauss,  Bruno  Banr,  and  Feurbach,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  Dorner,  on  tlie  other,  while  Christian 
Baur  occupied  a  middle  ground. 

Of  the  transcendental  philosophy,  in  all  its  stages,  as 
now  a  thing  of  the  past,  we  may  say  that,  after  all,  its 
extravagances,  its  arloitrary  speculations,  and  cloudland 


125 

theories,  whicli  have  disappeared,  or  are  destined  to  dis- 
appear, it  has  accomplished  sorr.e  solid  work.  It  ithas 
determined  attention  to  important  truths,  which  the 
previous    philoso[)hy  had  overlooked;   to  the  truth  that  / 

nature  is  not  a  dead  mechanism,  hut  operated  hv  a  spiritual  fff^T'^'-^'^Jjui 
power,  hetween  which  and  the  soul  of  man  there  is  nji^jr-j-^  .  v 
sympathy,  mysterious,  but  real  and  active;  that  the  pastoA^^^'^  ^^^f 
is  not  dead,  that,  althouffh  irretiievable,  it  can  never ^;^  c^^i  i^ju 
die,  that  it  helono^s  to  the  eternal  organism  of  the  niii-^'7/^2^/j2^  /'- 
verse;  that  the  church  is  not  a  mere  incidental  society  w^/,  ^-icJL&b  { 
but  an  organic  body,  actuated  l)y  a  common  spiritual  life  *  — ^-^^^J^^ 
distinguishing  it  from  the  world.;  that  its  doctrines  are 'y^^  ,  ctJ  ' 
the  laws,  or  expressions  of  that  life,  and  that  worship  is  l^^iK^  MJsX 
the  solemn  act  of  acknowledging  the  higher  i-elations  of  ^,^  /^^^Xciu. 
the  soul.  It  constrained  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  Juj^^^lc^  ^/  /^ 
is    in    man  a  capacit}'  to  apprehend  God    and    spiritual  ^      /i»      <■ 

as  well  as  material  things — things  above  the  reach  of  the '^'  "^"^  "'  '^ 
senses,  and  a  capacity  whereby  to  accept  a  spiritual 
ex[>erience.  And  a  style  of  thinking  was  introduced  in 
accordance  with  which  the  niysteries  of  faith,  and  of  the 
life  in  God  could  be  spoken  of  without  exposure  to  ridi- 
cule. Whatever  mistakes  the  transcendentalists  made, 
and  some  of  their  mistakes  were  stupendous,  they  did  not 
overlook  the  supersensuous.  Although  they  had  no  place 
for  the  supernatural,  they  opened  so  wide  a  world  beyond 
that  of  common  life  that  men  could  again  speak  freely 
of  the  realities  unseen,  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  the 
soul,  of  the  union  of  God  and  man,  and  of  a  life  which 
the  outer  senses  never  knew,  having  its  roots  not  in 
tliesn,  but  in  God.  In  short,  although  not  christian, 
it  opened  an  intelligent  world  in  which  christian  discus- 
sion could  move  freely,  and  spiritual  life  have  recogni- 
tion. Welded  together  with  error  fatal  to  itself,  it  proved 
an  implement  effective  to  the  accomplishment  of  work 
much  needed  to  be  done  in  its  time. 

Another  path  out  of  the  cold  illuminism  of  the  18th 
century,  as  well  as  out  of  tlie  mere  subjectivism  of  the 
transcendentalists,  was  constituted  in  the  writings  of 
Jacobi,  who,  without  constructing  a  system  of  his  own, 
exposed  with  a  clear  and  lofty  criticism  the  errors  of 
others,  and  w^herein  they  might  be  amended.     Frederick 


/  126 

Henry  Jacobi  (1743-1819)  found  the  essential  elements 
of  Christianity  in  the  belief  in  a  personal  God,  in  moral 
freedom,  and  the  eternity  of  human  peronality.  "Con- 
ceived thus  in  its  parity,  and  based  on  the  immediate 
witness  of  the  personal  consciousness,  there  is  for  him 
nothing'  greater  than  Christianity."  He  also  held  that, 
in  addition  to  the  outer  senses,  whereby  we  know  the 
outer  world,  we  are  possessed  of  an  inner  sense,  by  which 
we  have  direct  knowledge  of  supernatural  truth.  The 
system  of  Spinoza  he  admired  for  its  consistency,  but 
rejected  it  as  in  "  conflict  with  the  imperative  wants  of 
the  human  spirit."  He  also  opposed  the  pantheism  of 
the  transcendentalists,  and  recognized  a  personal  God, 
whom  we  can  think  of,  not  as  /,  but  as  Thoii^  and  to 
whom  we  can  pray,  as  God  at  once  above  us  and  com- 
municating himself  to  us. 

But  the  radical  revoUition  in  German  theology  was 
the  work  of  Schleiermacher,  who  although  still  a  rational- 
ist, advanced  a  principle,  which  undermined  the  omiU- 
potence  of  human  reason.  Frederick  Ernst  Daniel 
Schleiermacher  was  the  son  of  a  Reformed  clergyman, 
and  born  at  Breslau,  in  1768.  His  education  he  received 
in  the  schools  of  the  Moravian  Brethren,  and  afterwards 
pursued  the  theological  course  at  Halle.  Prom  1796  to 
1802  he  was  preacher  for  the  hospital  in  Berlin,  from 
1804  to  1806  prof,  at  Halle,  and  from  1809  minister  of  a 
church  in  Berlin,  and  from  1810  until  his  death  prof,  ot 
theology  in  the  University  there.     He  died  in  1834. 

The  cornerstone  of  Schleiermacher's theological  teach- 
ing was  the  doctrine  of  a  religious  feeling.  He  addressed 
rationalists  on  their  own  principles,  and  yet  defended 
religion,  as  occupying  a  position  which  their  weapons 
could  not  reach.  They  had  begun  to  reject  religion 
because  it  did  not  conform  to  the  measurements  of  reason, 
he  urged  that  such  was  the  case  because  religion  belonged 
to  a  power  of  the  human  mind,  which  their  philosophy 
had  overlooked.  Although  influenced  by  the  pantheism 
of  Spinoza,  he  distinguished  between  God  and  the  uni- 
verse, and  dift'ered  from  the  transcendentalists  in  teaching 
that  the  mental  act  of  apprehension  depends  upon  tha 
action  of  our  senses,  through  vv^hich  not   merely  ideas  of 


127 

thinfi^s,  but  "  their  being  is  taken  up  into  our  conscious- 
ness." The  Universe  is  the  totality  ofall  existing  things. 
The  unity  of  it  is  Deity.  It  is  united  in  all  itsparts  by 
a  reciprocity  of  influences,  and  accordingly  every  part 
is  both  active  and  passive.  "  With  hunnin  activity  is 
connected  the  feeling  of  freedom,  and  with  passibility, 
that  of  dependence.  Towards  the  Infinite,  as  the  unity 
of  the  Universe,  man  has  a  feeling  of  absolute  depend- 
ence. In  this  feeling  religion  has  it  root.  Religious 
ideas  and  dogmas  are  forms  of  the  manifestation  of  the 
religious  feeling,  and  as  such  are  specifically  distinguished 
from  scientific  speculation,  wliich  aims  to  reproduce  in 
subjective  consciousness  the  world  of  ol)jective  reality." 
He  insisted  accordingly  upon  the  supremacy  of  the  reli- 
gious feeling  an  all  questions  of  Theology. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  i)resent  century,  the  theolog- 
ians of  Germany  were  still  divided  in  such  a  way  that 
tliey  might  approximately  be  classed  as  rationalists, 
supernaturalists,  and  mediates.  Among  leaders  of  the 
first  were  Paul  us  of  Heidelberg,  Gesenius  of  Halle, 
Bahr  of  Weimar,  and  Bretschneider  of  Gotha ;  of  the 
second  were  Reinhardt  of  Wittenberg,  and  Knapp  of 
Ha'le,  while  De  Wette  of  Basil  might  be  named  as  repre- 
senting the  third.  Bat  hjgh  above  all  those  distinctions 
rose  the  work  of  Schleiermacher,  creating  in  itself  an 
epoch  in  German  Theology.  With  him  cooperated 
x^eander,  prof,  of  Church  History  in  Berlin,  from  1812 
to  his  death  in  1850,  in  a  more  close  Pietist  spirit,  but 
with  a  wider  influence,  from  the  vast  popularity  of  his 
lectures  and  writings. 

Schleiermacher's  theology  of  feeling,  expressed  by 
jSTeander  as  theology  of  the  heart,  was  a  clear  step  out  of 
the  old  vulgar  rationalism,  and  into  a  philosophical  posi- 
tion, ditterent  from  that  of  the  transcendentalists,  and  so 
lofty  and  comprehensive,  that  it  inlisted  the  zealous  atten- 
tion of  the  best  class  of  thinkers  among  the  young,  some 
of  whom  were  to  reach  a  more  positive  evangelical  faith 
than  their  teacher. 

Another  important  element  in  the  church  history  of 
Germany  arose  in  the  court  of  Berlin.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  his  reign,  Frederick  III.  was  disposed  to  follow 


128 

the  example  of  Frederic  II.  But  tlie  linmiliution  to 
which  he  was  subjected  in  the  war  with  Napoleon,  had 
a  benign  effect  upon  his  religious  character.  He  came 
out  of  it  with  a  more  matured  christian  character.  His 
favorite  enterprises,  undertaken  before  tlie  war  of  libera- 
tion, was  the  establishment  of  a  university  on  a  greatly 
enlarged  scale,  and  the  union  of  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
churches  within  his  dominions.  The  University  of  Ber- 
lin went  into  operation  in  1810.  To  unite  the  two 
churches  occasioned  more  controversy',  and  was  effected 
only  after  the  efforts  of  many  years.  Many  theologians 
were  exposed  to  it.  Occasion  was  taken  of  the  ter-cen- 
tenary  birthday  of  the  Reformation  to  promote  the  cause 
of  union;  but  a  stand  was  also  tiien  taken  Ity  Harnis, 
archdeacon  of  Kiel,  in  favor  of  close  Lutheranism,  in  his 
ninety-live  theses,  in  imitation  of  Luther.  It  was  not 
the  king's  purpose  to  constrain  either  side  as  to  doctrine 
or  observance,  but  to  comprehend  botli  within  one  organ- 
ization, as  the  church  of  Prussia,  and  requiring  of  them 
to  worship  together,  and  to  useUhe  same  service  pre- 
pared for  them,  in  common,  under  the  king's  supervision 
and  with  his  aid.  At  first,  tha  service  failed  to  give  sat- 
isfaction. An  improved  edition  was  issued  in  1829, 
which  received  the  authority  of  law. 

Rationalism  still  prevails  among  the  educated  in 
Germany  ;  but  evangelical  doctrine  has  gained  ground  of 
late  years.  The  school  of  thought,  which  commenced 
with  Schleiermacher,  has  led  the  way  into  a  more  simple 
and  Scriptural  faith,  and  includes  some  of  the  greatest 
theologians  now  living,  or  who  have  recently  died.  Such 
are  Tholuck  of  Halle,  Nitzsch,  Twesten  and  Dorner  of 
Berlin,  Lange  of  Bonn,  Kurtz  of  Dorpat,  Herzog  of 
Erlangen,  and  UUmann  and  Biihr  of  Carlsruhe  ;  and  the 
head  and  representative  of  strict  orthodoxy,  from  18.27 
until  his  death  in  18^^  professor  Hengstenberg,  of  Ber- 
lin, the  well  known  editor  of  the  Evangelical  Church 
Gazette. 

The  christian  public  of  Germany,  which  under  the 
conflicting  speculations  of  their  teachers,  bad  long  been 
indifferent  to  the  whole  subject  of  religion,  towards  the 
end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century,  gave  signs 


129 

of  an  internal  movement  of  a  more  vital  Christianity.  It 
was  connected  with  the  awakenino^  of  a  real  interest  in 
the  salvation  of  the  heathen,  which  had  gradnally  ex- 
tended to  the  Lutlieran  clinrch  from  Aniflican  and  Mora- 
vian sources.  That  spirit  had  existed  in  Denmark  hefore, 
but  was  now,  for  the  first  time,  enjoyed  by  tiie  Lutherans 
of  Germany.  The  revival  appeared  at  first  in  a  very 
humble  way,  in  the  form  of  little  pi'ayer  meetinn^s. 
obscure  and  thinl}^  attended,  but  conducted  by  men  of 
such  earnest  piety  as  John  Gosner,  and  the  Baron  Yon 
Kottwitz,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  principal  aojent  in 
tlie  conversion  of  Tholuck.  Their  work  gradually  vin- 
dicated for  itself  a  wider  field,  and  gave  such  fruits  as 
are  to  be  found  in  the  foreign  missions,  and  most  strik- 
ing of  all,  the  recent  inner  missions  now  planted  in  seve- 
ral places  in  Germany.  Meanwhile  the  universities  of 
Halle,  of  Ivonigsberg,  oi' Tiibingen,  and  otliers  have  par- 
taken in  a  revival  of  Scriptural  doctrine,  and  are  at  pres- 
ent distinguished  by  the  presence  of  men  equally  eminent 
for  learning  and  piet}'. 

LATER  ROMANISM. 

I.  The  Papacy. 

By  the  campaign  of  1796,  Italy  fell  into  the  hands  of 
France.  Rome  was  occupied  by  French  troops,- and  the 
Papal  fifovernment  overthrown  in  1798.  Pius  VI.,  carried  ^  (juu-f^ 
captive  into  France,  djed^iext  year.  After  an  interval  pZj^  TfAt^v^ 
of  more  than  six  months,  a  successor  was  ejected, "^who  ^  (ZfSrV^ 
took  the  name  Pius  VII.  Napoleon,  wdien  first  consul, 
determined  to  reestablish  the  Catholic  church,  and 
entered  into  a  concordat  with  the  pope,  restoring  him  to 
a  limited  ecclesiastical  authority.  He  also  obtained  the 
sanction  of  the  Pope  to  his  assumption  of  im[terial  rank. 
Pius  VII.  was  afterwards  seized  by  French  troops,  and 
detained  in  custody,  first  in  Savoy,  and  afterwards  at 
Fontainebleau,  with  the  titles  of  his  office,  but  without 
any  real  jurisdiction  over  his  estates.  Upon  the  fall  of 
Napoleon,  in  1814,  he  was  restored  to  Rome,  wdiich  he 
entered  on  the  21st  of  March. 

With  that  date   the  papacy  opened   a   new    stage    of 
existence.     All  parties  wlio  had   suffered   from   French 


X. 


130 


/c^/^. 


'//tsC    / 


aggression  had  a  common  sympathy  with   one  another, 
in  which  the  ])ope  had  a  hirge  share.     Upon,  such  a  tide 
of  sentiment  Romanism  rose  to  a  position  higher  than  it 
had  occupied  in  general  esteem  for  half  a  century.     One 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  reestahlislied  pope   was   to   take 
measures  for  the  revival  of  the  Jesuit  Order,  which  was 
ettected  on  the  7th  of  August  next.     Then  followed  the 
Inquisition,  and    other   apparatus   and   adjuncts   of  the 
Papal  government.     Resistance  was  made  in  hotli  Spain 
,and  Italy,  but  was  suppressed  by  mjliiaryjbrcef    Pius 
VII.  proved  a  bitter  enemy  of  all  that  was  called  improve- 
ment.    His  estates  were  put    under  the  government  of 
^^  ecclesiastics  ;   laymen  were  to  be  trusted  as  little  as  pos- 
^      .       .    ^ible,  and  the  greatest  caution  exercised  in  allowing  any 

-^,  tuy^^^  ^  of  them  to  have   access  to  the   Scriptures.     PiusVlt. 

P^:j  i  «^f*"died  in  August,  1823.  Under  the  next  pope,  Leo  XII., 
reaction  proceeded  with  increasing  zeal.  And  the  in- 
creasing liberality  of  Protestants  yielded  privileges  which 
had  long  been  denied.  In  1829,  the  Catholics  of  the 
British  isles,  were  relieved  of  the  last  of  the  disabilities, 
which  the  conflicts  of  bygone  ages  had  laid  upon  them. 
In  that  year  Leo  XIL  died,  and  his  successor,  Pius 
VIIL,  survived  him  only  a  few  months  Gregory  XVI. •> 
elected  in  1830,  occupied  the  Papal  throne  sixteen  years- 
In  the  course  of  that  time  it  was  felt  that  the  reaction 
had  been  urged  beyond  its  natural  capacity,  and  that  the 
current  of  [)opular  sentiment  could  not  endure  what  the 
extreme  papal  party  were  still  disposed  to  press.  Conse- 
quently, upon  the  death  of  Gregory,  the  Cardinals  made 
a  concession  to  the  more  liberal  spirit  of  the  age,  or 
rather,  to  the  stronger  party  among  their  people,  in  elect- 
ing one  who  had  some  reputation  for  sympathy  with  it, 
Cardinal  John  Mary  Mastai  Perretti,  who  took  the  mime 
Pius  IX. 

A  fe\y  unimportant  improvements,  made  in  the  be- 
ginning of  liis  pontificate,  gave  the  impression  that  Pius 
IX.  was  about  to  reform  the  papacy.  His  progress  in 
that  direction  necessarily  stopped  short  of  public  expec- 
tation. Rome  became  dissatisfied.  In  the  war  then 
waged  between  Sardinia  and  Austria,  Rome  sympathized 
with  the  former,  the  Pope  with  the  latter.     Insurrection 


131 

was  fomented.  The  papal  prime  minister,  DeRossi,  was 
slain.  And  Pins  IX.  himself  lied  in  disguise  to  Mola  de 
Gaeta,  within  the  protection  of  Naples.  " 

Meanwhile,  the  French  revolution  of  1848  had  been 
effected,  and  the  Prince  President,  to  secure  catholic 
votes  in  France,  sent  troops  to  reduce  the  Roman  Repub- 
lic and  restore  the  Pope.  Pius  IX.  has,  since  that  day, 
been  kept  on  his  throne  by  the  helji  of  bayonets.  When 
those  of  ISTapoleon  were  withdrawn,  those  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  had  to  step  in. 

Under  the  reign  of  Pius  IX.  the  principal  ecclesiasti- 
cal facts  have  been  the  absolute  dependence  of  the 
Pope  upon  foreign  protection  against  the  dissatisfaction 
of  his  own  subjects;  the  restoration  of  the  Romish  hier- 
arch}'  in  England,  and  its  extension  into  the  United 
States,  the  establishment  of  religious  toleration  in  Italy, 
the  promulgation  of  the  dogma  declaring  the  Virgin 
Mary  to  have  been  born  without  taint  of  original  sin,  the 
Vatican  council,  and  its  resolution  rendering  it  binding 
upon  every  catholic  to  believe  that  the  Pope  is  infallible 
when,  in  discharge  of  his  office  as  Pastor  and  teacher  of 
christians,  he  defines  a  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals 
to  be  held  by  the  whole  church.  Immediately  after  the 
passing  of  that  act  of  infalibility,  the  French  invaded 
Prussia,  the  French  troops  had  to  be  withdrav^^i  from 
Rome,  and  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  fell,  and  the 
protection  of  his  person  and  ecclesiastical  office  was  as- 
sumed by  the  King  of  Italy  in  accordance  with  an  over- 
whelming vote  of  the  Papal  subjects,  (1870.) 

II.     Anti-Papalism. 

The  Infallibility  dogma  has  given  rise  to  a  dissent  in 
the  Catholic  church,  which,  although  not  of  much  weight 
in  numbers,  nor  in  ecclesiastical  rank,  takes  its  stand 
upon  ground,  which  that  whole  communion  will  in  course 
of  time  be  constrained  to  take.  Its  own  just  freedom 
and  the  loyalty  of  its  members  to  the  civil  governments 
under  which  they  live,  would  seem  now  to  demand  that 
the  Catholic  church  should  abandon  the  papacy.  That 
office  has  long  ago  ceased  to  be  a  benefit  to  the  church 
over  which  it  rules,  and  now  utterly  misrepresents  tiie 
attitude  of  Catholics  towards  their  respective  countries. 


132 

A  party  of  French  Catholics,  soon  al'ter  the  revolution 
of  1830,  were  disposed  to  bi'ing  about  a  greater  conformity 
in  their  religion  to  the  freedom  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  It  was  represetited  chiefly  by  the  emi- 
nent ecclesiastic  and  author  Lamenais,  Count  Montalem- 
'a'  bert,    and    the    eloquent,    th(mgh    somewhat    eccentric 

;-^  preacher,  Lacordaire,  who  established  a  journal    called 

L'avenir,  devoted  to  the  interest  of  Catholicism  and  free- 
dom.    They  advocated  separation   of  church  and  state, 
each  to  be  independent  of  the  other  ;  and  that  the  church 
^  should  be  poor,  and  receive  neither  support  nor  control 

^  from    the    civil    government.     An    encyclical    letter    of 

y  Gregory  XVI.  arrested    their  discussions  and    brouglu 

^  L'avenir  to  a  premature  end.     But  opinions  equally  un- 

palatable to  Rome  have  been  not  only  agitated,  but  acted 
s^  on  witliin  the  catholic  communion,  of  later  date. 

]r  Large    numbers  on    the   continent   of  Europe   have 

^  recently  abandoned  Roman  Catholicism,  and  if  they  have 

not  joined  some  Protestant  church,  remain  in  a  state  of 
'  Sd  skepticism  or  of  unbelief.     In  1848  freedom  of  religion 

"^  began  to  be  adopted  in  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia,  a  free- 

g  dom  which  has  sustained  itself  by  evincing  its  benefits. 

>A  It  is  now  extended  to  all  Italy  and  Sicily,  and  has  enter- 

^  ed  even  the  walls  of  Rome.     A  similar  progress  has  been 

r-^  vindicated  in  Southwestern  Germany  and  Austria  ;   but 

2  has  encountered  a  check  in  both  France  and  Spain.     The 

^  apparent  growth  of  Papalism  in  England  and  tlie  United 

=^  States   is    delusive.     Those    who   put  confidence  in   its 

^  present  appearances    will,  in  case  of  any  practical  test 

occurring,  find  themselves  deceived. 

In  ojtposition  to  the  extreme  papalism  of  the  Vatican 
council,  a  party  under  the  leadership  of  Prof.  Bollinger 
of  Munich,  and  calling  themselves  "  Old  Catholics,"  has 
been  organized  on  the  ground  of  rejecting  the  infallibility 
of  the  pope. 

III.     The  Papal  Government. 

1.  The  present  Pope,  Pius  IX. 

2.  The  college  of  Cardinals,  when  full,  consists  of  six 
cardinal  Bishops,  fifty  cardinal  priests  and  fourteen  Cardi- 
nal deacons. 


8.  Xext  to  the  college  of  Cardinals  stand  the  conr/rr- 
gationcs,  or  conmuttees  of  different  departments  of  gov- 
ernment :  as  that  of  the  Inquisition  and  that  of  the  Pro- 
[)aganda. 

4.  subordinate  to  the  government  at  Rome  are  the 
metropolitans,  or  archbishops,  presiding  over  provinces 
of  tlie  ecclesiastical  empire,  and 

5.  under  them,  tlie  bishops  of  dioceses,  wlio  in  turn 
rule  over  all  the  priests  and  inferior  secular  clergy  of 
their  respective  districts. 

6.  Another  ramification  of  ecclesiasticism  from  Rome 
is  that  of  tlie  monastic  system,  the  so-called  regular 
clergy,  in  tlieir  various  orders,  and  under  their  respective 
generals,  and  other  officers.  A  sreat  branch  of  the 
monastic  system  is  constituted  of  such  establishments  for 
women,  each  nunnery  being  governed  by  its  abbess,  or 
superior,  subject  to  the  general  government. 

BRITISH  CHURCHES  SINCE  1688. 

I.     Church  of  i:xglam». 

At  the  revolution  in  1688,  eiglit  English  bishops,  with 
Sancroft,  archbishoi>  of  Canterbury  at  their  head,  and 
about  four  hujidred  other  clergy,  who  lield  to  the  divine 
right  of  Kings,  although  some  of  them  had  censured  the 
de^ipotism  of  King. lames,  still  believed  that  they  ought  to 
submit,  and  could  not  allow  that  tlie  nation  had  any  right 
to  transfer  tiie  crown  to  another.  They  refused  the 
oatli  of  allegiance  to  the  new  king.  Although  they  could 
not  remain  in  the  establishment,  on  that  condition,  they 
were  tolerated  in  the  exercise  of  their  clerical  functions, 
as  dissenters,  among  those  who  agreed  with  tliem  in 
opinion,  or  preferred  their  ministrations.  The  small 
body  which  in  Scotland  adhered  to  Episcopacy  took  the 
same  political^ground.  Under  the  name  of  Non-jurers, 
the  sect  continued  to  exist  until  after  the  hopeless  defeat 
of  tlie  Jacobites,  about  the  middle  of  the  IStli  century. 
The  death  of  Charles  Edward,  in  1788,  removed  the  last 
foot  of  ground  on  which  the  fjiction  stood. 

Fruits  of  the  Restoration  remained  in  the  church  at 
the  Revolution  in  a  parochial  clergy  ill  educated,  worldli- 
minded,  and  int(derant,  who  opposed  every   step   of  im- 


iLrlU^ 


134 

provement.  Witb  numerous  exceptions,  the  higher 
clergy  were  commendably, disposed  to  reform  abuses,  and 
to  bring,  if  possible,  the  national  establishment  into  har- 
mony with  the  universal  Protestant  convictions  of  Eng- 
land. Witli  that  view  a  royal  commission  revised  the 
Liturgy.  But  their  labor  was  rendered  fruitless  by  oppo- 
sition of  the  lower  house  of  convocation. 

At  that  date,  and  for  more  than  a  generation  later, 
piety  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  the  national  church,  which 
was  largely  actuated  by  political  partyism.  Those  who 
defended  the  utmost  claims  of  the  Prelacy,  and  confined 
all  religion  to  the  channel  of  prescribed  routine,  were 
called  the  High  Church  party,  and  sympathized,  in  the 
main,  with  the  Tory  party  in  the  state.  Those  who 
attached  greater  weight  to  personal  piety,  and  less  to 
ordinances  and  prelatical  authority  went  under  the  name 
of  Low  Church  ;  and  corresponded  to  the  Whig  part_y  in 
politics.  Later  in  the  century  those  names  contracted  a 
more  purely  religious  meaning  from  their  relations  to 
the  great  revival. 

Such  a  state  of  the  ministry  was  the  proper  soil  for 
skepticism  to  grow  in.  And  the  particular  form  which 
it  assumed  in  England  at  that  time  was  deism,  which 
had  sprung  up  as  a  style  of  religious  thought  in  the  fore- 
going century.  Its  progress,  cliecked  by  tlie  christian 
zeal  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  utter  profligacy  of 
the  Restoration,  quickened  into  a  new  activity,  under 
the  decent  but  hollow  profession  wliicli  followed  the 
Revolution.  The  earl}- part  and  middle  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury constituted,  in  England,  its  flourishing  period.  Its 
history  consists  of  successive  stages  of  controversy. 

1.  First  it  appeared,  in  the  hands  of  Lord  Herbert  of 
Cherbury,  as  a  heresy  growing  out  of  the  Biblicah  dis- 
cussions of  the  first  quarter  of  the  17th  century,  and  in 
a  reverential  spirit. 

2.  The  reverential  spirit  disappeared  in  Ilobbes,  and 
his  successors.  The  earliest  deists  made  their  attack 
upon  the  substance  of  Scripture.  And  their  opponents, 
Baxter,  Locke,  Whitby,  Halyburton,  and  others,  labored 
to  show  the  reasonableness  of  the  christian  religion,  and 
that  it  is  necessary  to  man's  happiness.     They  were  also 


135 

led  to  define  the  principles  of  natural  religion,  to  which 
Bishop  Cumberland's  treatise  "  De  Legibiis  Naturae''  was 
addressed, 

3.  As  the  controversy  advanced,  it  turned  into  dis- 
cussion of  the  canon,  and  historical  trutli  of  certain  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  history. 

4.  After  the  first  quarter  of  tiie  18th  century,  the 
main  stream  of  controversy  followed  the  channel  of  testi- 
mony, and  expended  itself  in  criticism  of  the  witnesses 
to  the  facts  of  Scriptui'e  separately. 

5.  iS^o  longer  content  with  replying  to  attack,  the 
christian  ai)()logists,  towards  the  middle  of  that  century, 
began  to  construct  works  of  permanent  and  and  inde- 
pendent value.  Butler's  Analogy  of  Natural  and  Re- 
vealed Religion  appeared  in  1736.  Further  on,  began  to 
appear  such  works  of  independent  criticism  as  West's 
treatise  on  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  (1747),  Littleton's 
Conversion  and  Aj)ostleship  of  Paul,  and  Newton  on 
Prophecy.  Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  Paley 
published  his  view  of  the  w^hole  subject  of  the  christian 
evidences,  and  a  few  years  later,  his  treatise  on  Natural 
Theology. 

The  controversy  resulted  in  the  production  of  works 
on  the  necessity  of  revelation  to  the  spiritual  well 
being  of  man  : 

2.  Second,  of  scattered  defences  of  the  external  evi- 
dences, at  particular  [loints  of  attack  : 

3.  Third,  independent  treatment  of  single  events  in 
Scripture  history,  gradually,  as  the  series  advanced, 
taking  in  a  wider  range,  and  ultimately  rising  to  the 
height  and  breadth  of  the  whole  field  of  the  external  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  : 

4.  Fourth,  treatises  on  the  internal  evidences — first, 
internal  as  respects  Scripture  ;  and  second,  internal  as 
respects  the  Christian's  experience,  and  character:  and 

d.  Fifth,  the  radical  starting  points  of  a  new  and  bet- 
ter philosophy,  or  style  of  thinking,  among  christians, 
which  recognized  tlic  separate  existence  of  an  inner  ex- 
perience of  Spiritual  life. 

6.  Sixth,  as  the  Deists  made  their  attack  from  the 
side  of  Natural  Theology,  so  Christian  apologists  were 


136 

led  to  define  the  field  and  docti-ines  of  Natural^Theology, 
and  trace  the  analogy  between  it  and  the  Revealed. 
And  the  end  was 

7.  Seventh,  the  four-fold  result  of  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  Christian  Evidences;  a  complete  treatment  of 
Natural  Theology,  a  masterly  summing  up  of  the  great 
points  of  their  Analogy,  and  an  introduction  to  the 
defence  of  Cliirstianity  on  its  inner  merits. 

TiiK  Great  Revival, 

A  general  reform  of  nn^rals  commenced  in  the  early 
years  of  the  18th  century.  It  appeared  first  in  the  serial 
essays  published  by  Sir.  Richard  Steele,  Addison  and 
others  in  the  Tatler  (1709-10)  Si-ectator,  (1710-13)  Guar- 
dian, (1713)  and  their  successors.  For  exposure  of  social 
follies,  and  the  example  of  a  popular  literature  free  from 
all  stain  of  moral  impurity,  the  England  of  that  day  owed 
those  writers  an  inestimable  debt.  The  Society  for 
promoting  Christian  Knowledge  was  instituted  in  1698  ; 
and  that  forpropagatingthegospel  in  foreign  parts  in  1701. 
But  the  most  powerful  effect  in  reviving  an  interest 
in  religion  proceeded  from  a  little  society  of  students  in 
the  University  of  Oxford,  of  which  John  and  Charles 
Wesley  were  the  principal  movers.  It  was  formed  about 
1729  and  continued  to  be  merely  a  college  society  for 
six  or  seven  years.  In  1735  it  was  joined  by  George 
Whitefield.  Much  benefit  was  received  from  connection 
with  the  iMoravian  Societies  in  London  and  elsewhere. 
In  1735  the  Wesleys  visited  America;  but  not  until 
1738,  did  the  society  disperse  over  the  British  Isles  and 
to  America  preaching  the  gospel.  In  that  year  White- 
field  made  his  first  visit  to  America.  In  his  work  as  an 
evangelist  he  traveled  over  the  British  Isles,  awakening 
every  where  an  intense  interest  in  religion.  He  visited 
America  seven  times,  giving  his  aid  to  the  revival  then 
going  forward  in  the  colonies  :  and  died  at  Newbury  port, 
Sept.  30,  1770.  John  Wesley,  although  an  evangelist 
also,  marked  his  career  especially  by  organizing  societies 
for  religious  improvement;  but  retaining  them  all  m 
connection  with  the  established  church  of  England.  Be- 
O^fi  9^   fore  his  death  in '^1791,  societies   were   formed   in    most 

■  y 


Jl^iu.r^  .  Ct^n^  5^  <^i^  ^i^'' 


137 

places  of  importance  in  England,  and  some  in  Ireland 
and  the  United  States.  Four  ye-'irs  later  they  adopted  !^  ^' 
measures  constituting  themselves  a  separate  church,  and 
severed  their  connection  with  the  establishment.  Their 
brethren  in  America  had  assumed  that  attitude  in  1784. 
The  latter  formed  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ;  the 
former,  the  Wesleyan  Methodist,  Both  were  character- 
ized by  an  Arminian  Theology.  The  Calvinistic  Metho- 
dists failed  to  organize  a  complete  association  of  their 
congregations.  Most  nearly  approaching  to  it  was  that 
formed  by  the  zeal  and  eminent  ability  of  Lady  Hunting- 
ton, and  that  which  still  maintains  itself  as  that  of  the 
Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists.  Lady  Huntington's  con- 
nection proved  of  most  benelit  as  promoting  evangelical 
religion  among  the  clergy  and  members  of  the  Establish- 
ed church.  Within  more  recent  time  the  Great  Metho- 
dist bodies  have  been  broken  by  various  divisions. 

Although  rejected  by  the  Anglican  church,  the  Meth- 
odist revival  was  not  without  an  extensive  collateral 
influence  upon  many  of  both  its  clergy  and  membership. 
Such  persons  were  classed  with  the  low  Church  ;  but  in 
course  of  time  it  was  found  necessary  to  distinguish  them 
further  by  another  name,  as  Evangelical. 

About  the  same  time  with  the  rise  of  Methodism, 
another  divergence  from  the  English  Church  took  place 
in  another  direction.  Socinians  were  few  in  England  in 
the  early  part  of  the  18th  century.  But  from  the  middle 
to  the  encl  of  it  their  numbers  encreased,  and  their  doc- 
trines were  advocated  by  writers  of  considerable  ability  ; 
and  before  the  century  closed  Sociuian  places  of  worship 
were  opened,  and  a  sect  formed  under  the  title  of  Unita- 
rian. Their  principal  advocate  was  Dr.  Priestly,  who  in 
1794  removed  to  the  United  States,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence at  jSTorthumberland  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
died  in  1804. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  the  English 
Church,  notwithstanding  her  internal  dissentions,  has 
greatly  extended  her  evangelical  enterprise  both  at  home 
and  in  missions  among  the  colonies ;  and  various  socie- 
ties have  been  organized  both  by  her  members,  and  in 
cooperation  with'dissenters  for  the  wider  publication  of 
Scriptural  knowledge. 


k<^ 


lly  mfCHti 


138 


In  the  progress  of  liberal   opinions   about  1832  and 

1833,  many  churchmen  became  alarmed  for  the  safety  ot 

the  establishment.     A  few  members  of  the  University  of 

gj  Oxford,  with  a  view  to  counteract  the  existing  tendenc}- 

KiiU',  of  the  public  mind,  undertook  a   series   of  publications 

/  •,    ,.    ^(1  V  f'  ,', called  "  Tracts  for  the  times,"  which  continued  to  appear 

from  1833,  until  1841,  to  the  number  of  Ninety.     Deep 

division   of  opinion   was  tu-eated  by  them,  especially  by 

ji     ,      the  Romish  tendency  evinced  in  some  (if  them.     In   the 

;    J-'i    *■  large'No.  90  so  strongly  was  that  apparent  that   the  fur- 

^1^,  ther  publication  of  the  series  was  stopped.    Mr.  Newman, 

the  author  of  that   tract,  afterwards,  with    one   or   two 

others  associated  witli  him  in  the  enterprize,  went  over 

to  Romanism,     Dr.  Pusey  was  silenced,  but  at  the  end 

of  two  years,  restored  to  his  place  in  the  English  church. 

In  the  same  general  direction,  another  party  has  arisen 

more  recently,  whose  peculiarity  it  is  to  engraft  upon  tlie 

liturgy  of  their  church  many  of  the  rites  and  ceremonies 

of  the  Roman  Catholic. 

Since  the  death  of  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  to  whom 
they  look  with  special  reverence,  another  section  lias 
grown  up  distinguished  as  the  "  Broad  Church."  Their 
aim  is  to  occupy  a  liberal  attitude  within  the  establish- 
ment, with  a  kindly  spirit  towards  christians  of  other 
denominations. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Scotland  since  the  Revolu- 
tion OF  1688. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Established  Church  of 
Scotland,  as  constituted  at  the  Revolution,  consisted  of 
three  elements;  first,  the  old  ministers  who  had  been 
ejected  by  the  intrusion  of  Prelacy,  now  numberinir  only 
sixty;  second,  the  ministers  of  the  Cameronian  party,  only 
three  in  number;  and  third,  those  who  had  submitted 
to  Prelacy,  more  numerous  than  the  other  two.  The 
Acts  of  Parliament  under  which  thev  reconstituted  were 
those  of  the  year  1592.  The  Covenant  of  1638  was  not 
renewed.  Offense  was  thereby  given  to  some  of  the 
Cameronians,  who  refused  to  go  into  the  establishment 
on  that  condition.     They  subsecpiently  obtained  a  min- 


139 

ister,  a  Mr.  M'Millaii,  and  took  the  denoniiiiation  of 
Refortned  Presbyterians, 

For  tlie  first  twenty-five  years,  or  tliereby,  from  the 
Revolution,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  notwithstandi no- 
some  incongruous  elements,  presented  a  nob'e  example 
of  zeal  and  consistent  effort  in  her  spiritual  work.  But 
in  course  of  time  rationalism,  active  elsewhere  in  that 
century,  invaded  her  bounds,  and  led  to  division  and 
secession. 

In  1707  the  two  kingdoms  of  England  and  Scotland 
were  united  :  and  as  preliminary  thereto  an  act  of  Par- 
liament had  been  passed,  called  the  "  Security  Act," 
guarding  against  any  infringement' of  the  rights  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  by  that  political  change. 

In  1712,  an  act  of  Parliament  granted  legal  toleration, 
to  Episcopal  dissenters  in  Scotland,  who  wished  to  use 
the  English  liturgy,  and  released  them  from  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  church  of  Scotland. 

In  the  same  parliament  an  act  was  passed  restoring 
patronage  in  Scottish  parishes,  a  false  step  which  subse- 
quently led  to  many  troubles. 

The  first  secession  arose  out  of  the  defence  of  ortho- 
doxy, against  the  increasing  rationalism  of  the  General 
Assembly,  In  1732  Ebenezer  Erskine,  was  censured  for 
preaching  against  certain  prevailing  errors.  Against 
that  act  he  protested,  and  was  joined  by  three  other 
ministers.  They  were  all  deposed,  and  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  support  of  those  who  agreed  with  them 
in  their  congregations :  and  thereby  created  the  first 
Associate  Presbytery. 

The  second  secession,  in  1761,  grew  out  of  difficulties 
connected  with  patronage.  Leaving  the  establishment 
to  be  relieved  of  the  burden  of  patronage,  the  seceders 
took  the  name  of  the  "  Relief  Presbytery." 

These  secessions  were  not  heresies ;  but  made  in 
defence  of  sound  orthodoxy  and  relief  from  secular  inter- 
ference :  and  proved  of  great  benefit  to  the  I*resb3^terian 
cause,  resisting  consistently  all  approaclies  of  rationalism, 
which  in  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  century  deeply  cor- 
rupted the  established  church. 

Scotland  was  divided  civilly  as  well  as  ecclesiastically 
into  919   parishes,  each    one  of  which,  under  the    civil 


140 

government  furtiiahes  a  church  and  a  stated  salary  for 
a  minister.  In  the  first  book  of  discipline  it  was  declared 
that  it  appertained  to  the  people,  and  "  to  every  several 
congregation"  to  elect  their  ministers.  And  that  princi- 
ple, although  long  and  often  defeated,  was  still  maintain- 
ed as  a  constitutional  right,  and  recognized  in  the  R,e.v- 
olution.  But  patronage  restored  by  act  of  the  United 
Parliament  in  1712,  was  later  in  the  century  defended 
by  the  General  Assembly. 

In  itH!  lowest  period  of  rationalism,  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was  never  without  some  evangelical  laborers. 
Dr.  Thomas  Hardy  and  Dr.  John  Erskine  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  18th  century  struggled  against  much  opposi- 
tion ;  but  made  the  beginning  of  what  afterwards  became 
a  blessed  revival  of  religion  among  the  ministers.  It 
appeared  first  in  an  attempt  to  interest  the  General 
Assembly  in  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  unsuc- 
cessful, but  awakening  inquiry  and  discussion.  The 
small  evangelical  party  increased  in  number.  Towards 
the  close  of  the  French  war,  it  received  valuable  acces- 
sions in  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson,  who  began  his  career  of 
eminent  usefulness  at  Edinburgh  in  1810;  in  the  publica- 
tions of  Dr.  M'Crie,  which  began  with  his  Life  of  Knox 
in  1811;  and  the  removal  of  Thon^as  Chalmers  from  a 
little  country  charge  to  the  city  of  Glasgow  in  1815,  to 
whom  should  be  added  Andrew  Synnngton  as  preacher 
and  professor  of  Theology  in  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Paisley.  The  various  agencies  of  pastoral 
duty  as  well  as  of  preaching,  and  of  home  and  foreign 
missions  were  quickened  to  more  active  life.  Eight 
years  later  the  same  zeal  in  christian  work  was  carried 
to  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  by  the  election  of  Dr. 
Chalmers  to  the  professorship  of  philosophy. 

In  1824  Dr.  Inglis,  leader  of  the  Moderate  party, 
brought  the  subject  of  foreign  missions  before  the  Assem- 
bly. A  committee  was  appointed  (1825)  to  consider  the 
matter.  A  favorable  report  was  accepted,  and  measures 
taken  accordingly  :  and  in  1829,  Alexander  Dufi^',  first 
missionary  of  the  Established  church  of  Scotland,  went 
out  to  India. 


141 

As  the  revival  progressed  among  the  ministers  and 
congregations,  the  burden  and  obstructions  of  patronage 
were  felt  to  be  oppressive  and  in  many  cases  to  spiritual 
detriment.  Its  abu.-es  in  some  quarters  were  complained 
of  before  the  Assembly,  which  t-^ok  steps  to  protect  the 
people  against  the  process  of  imposing  ministers  upon 
them  by  force.  But  thereby  a  conflict  was  incurred  with 
the  civil  courts,  which  sustained  the  patrons.  The  mat- 
ter was  carried  to  Parliament.  But  nothing  was  done 
for  relief  of  the  difKculty.  In  this  conflict  of  authorities, 
the  civil  power  very  easily  remained  the  victor.  As 
long  as  the  church  received  her  pay  through  the  liands 
of  the  state,  it  was  resolved  that  she  should  submit  to 
the  conditions  imposed  by  the  state. 

After  an  earnest  and  patient  struggle  of  about  ten 
years,  a  large  number  of  the  ministers  agreed  to  submit. 
Others,  and  those  the  furthest  advanced  in  the  revival 
movement,  felt  that  such  a  submission  would  put  them 
in  worse  condition  than  before,  and  preferred  the  alter- 
native of  surrendering  the  emoluments  of  the  establish- 
ment. They  accordingly,  in  1843,  left  it,  to  the  number 
of  474  ministers,  and  a  corresponding  number  of  parish- 
oners.  By  the  previous  ettbrts  and  large  organizing 
power  of  Chalmers  and  others,  the  ground  had  been  well 
prepared  for  them,  their  government  and  maintenance 
provided  for,  and  they  forthwith  took  their  position  as 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  It  has  proved  an  active 
evangelical  church,  almost  rivaling  the  establishment  in 
numbers,  while  the  establishment  has  subsequently 
greatly  increased  in  the  power  of  an  evangelical  spirit. 
And  that  fi-eedom  from  patronage,  which  could  not  be 
obtained  thirty  years  ago,  has  been  recently  granted  by 
act  of  Parliament.     (1874.) 

There  are  now  four  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Scot- 
land, namely.  The  Established  Church,  the  Free  Church, 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  consisting  of  the  United 
Associated  and  Relief  Churches,  and  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church.  All  four  have  their  branches  in  the 
colonies  and  in  the  United  States,  and  their  missions 
amono-  the  heathen. 


:^v,.     /^^^/    ^y 


142 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland  after  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

Kino;  William  landed  at  Carrickfers^ns  on  the  14th 
of  June,  and  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  was  fonght  on  the 
first  of  July  1690.  James,  hopelessly  defeated,  hurried 
frojTi  the  country  never  to  return.  The  loyalty  of  Pres- 
byterians William  recognized  by  issuing  an  order  to  the 
(collector  of  customs  at  Belfast  for  the  regular  pa3'ment 
of  twelve  hundred  pounds  annually  to  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  of  Ulster ;  the  beginning  of  tlie  Regiam  Donam, 
or  Royal  Bounty,  which  enlarged  from  time  to  time,  was 
continued  until  1870. 

The  succeeding  history,  from  the  first  meeting  of 
Synod  after  the  Revolution  1690  consists  of  three  sec- 
tions, the  first  extending  to  1719,  the  tirst  appearance  of 
Rationalism,  undei-  sanction  of  the  Belfast  society  ;  the 
Second,  from  1719  until  about  1808  was  the  period  of 
conflict  with  that  internal  foe,  and  the  third  is  that  of  the 
revived  predominance  of  orthodoxy. 

By  the  new  oath  of  allegiance  Presbyterians  were  put 
under  no  civil  disabilities;  but  the  attempt  to  obtain 
from  the  Irish  Parliament  toleration  for  their  religion 
failed.  In  1704  a  civil  disability  was  gratuitously  created 
by  the  established  church  party,  in  the  sacramental  test, 
whereby  "  all  persons  holding  any  office,  civil  or  military, 
or  receiving  any  pay  or  salary  from  the  crown,"  were  to 
take  the  sacrament  in  the  established  Church,  within 
three  months  after  any  such  appointment;  an  offence 
which  was  not  repealed  until  after  the  end  of  seventy- 
five  years.  But  tliough  encountering  many  obstacles  the 
Presbyterian  Chui'ch  in  Ulster  continued  to  increase  in 
numbers  and  to  contend  against  the  error  making  pro- 
gress within  itself.  In  1742  a  congregation  connected  with 
the  Associate  Synod  of  Scotland  was  planted  in  Irelahd  ; 
and  a  few  years  later,  one  (^f  Reformed  I'resbyterians, 
both  of  whom  sustained  the  cause  of  Ortliodoxy,  when 
it  was  declining  in  the  synod  of  Ulster. 

From  1770  the  supporters  of  the  VVe^tminister  Con- 
fession were  the  minorit\'  in  the  synod,  and  the  years 
intervening  until  1793  showed  a  great  increase  of  error, 
among  the  ministers,  while  the  teaching  of  the  Shorter 


ta>w-«^'"'V.  v^-j/-^  uA*cfl 


143 


v^t^l 


Catechism  was  never  abandoned  by  the  Pi-esbyterian 
families. 

Within  the  Last  decade  of  the  18th  century  the  new- 
spirit  of  missions  began  to  awaken  interest,  and  in  1798 
an  eva\igelical  association  was  formed  in  Ulster  forborne 
nussion  enterprise,  and  consisted  of  members  from  the 
Associate  church,  the  Synod  of  Ulster  and  from  the 
Establishment.  Kindred  efforts  succeeded,  improvement 
of  ministerial  education,  common  education,  supplying 
Bibles  on  easy  terms  to  the  poor,  which  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  branch  Bible  Society,  iind  by  the  year  1808  the 
cliange  amounted  to  a  real  ministerial  revival  of  sound 
doctrine.  The  corresponding  movement  in  Scotland  also 
made  itself  felt  in  Ulster,  and  vacant  congregations  be- 
gan to  be  supplied  by  young  evangelical  ministers,  where 
unitarians  had  preceded.  One  of  those  young  men, 
Henry  Cook,  became  a  most  active  and  efficient  leader 
in  the  revival.  At  the  Synod  of  1828,  a  vote  on  all  the 
points  of  the  unitarian  controversy  gave  a  large  majority 
for  the  Orthodox.  N'ext  year  the  Unitarians  withdrew, 
and  formed  what  is  called  the  Remonstrant  Synod  of 
Ulster.  This  step  prepared  the  way  for  urnon  of  the 
Ulster  and  Associate  Synods,  which  was  effected  on  the 
tenth  of  July  1840,  constituting  thereby  the  "  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Ireland."  At 
the  same  time  missionaries  were  set  apart  for  India.  In 
the  disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  1843,  the 
sympathies  of  the  Irish  Presbyterians  went  with  the  Free 
Church. 

The  disestablishment  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Ireland  "  necessarily  led  to  the  abolition  of  state  grants 
to  any  religious  body.'^  Accordingly  since  that  date  the 
Reglam  Doniun  has  been  withheld.  All  denominations 
in  Ireland  are  now  on  the  same  civil  footing. 

Revival  among  the  Reformed  Churches  on  the  Con- 
tinent OF  Europe, 

After  the  close  of  the  wars  of  Napoleon,  and  when 
the  more  serious  impediments  to  travel  were  removed 
an  English  mechanic,  Richard  Wilcox,  visited  Geneva. 
He  was  a  pious  Calvinistic  Methodist,  and  residing  for  a 


ii'lC 


144 

few  months  in  that  city,  by  his  conversation  he  kindled 
up  in  the  minds  of  several  ]>ersons  earnest  inquiry  after 
a  truer  christian  life.  The  Consistory  determined  to  ex- 
tinguish it,  by  constraining  into  banishment  those  by 
whom  it  was  entertained.  Wilcox  left  the  place  in  Jan- 
uary 1817.  But  another,  and  more  powerful  laborer 
arrived  almost  at  the  same  time. 

Robert  Haldane  had  left  Scotland  on  a  tour  of  reli- 
gious instruction.  After  visiting  Paris  and  Montauban, 
he  arrived  at  Geneva  in  the  b''^ginning  of  1817.  His  sole 
object  being  to  promote  the  study  of  Scripture  truth,  he 
began  by  conversing  with  any  whom  he  found  disposed 
to  consider  the  subject.  At  tirst  discouraged  in  the  min- 
isters whom  he  encountered,  he  after  a  short  time  became 
acquainted  with  one  of  tlie  theological  students,  who 
took  an  interest  in  his  conversation.  The  young  man 
called  upon  him  at  his  lodgings,  bringing  another  student. 
They  repeated  their  visit,  and  others  came  v^'ith  them. 
At  his  visitors  encreased,  Mr.  Haldane  ajjpointed  certain 
hours  in  the  week  for  them  to  come  to  his  room,  when 
he  gave  regular  lectures  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
expounding  to  them  its  doctrine  of  salvation  through 
faith  in  a  Redeemer.  Twenty-five  attended.  Most  of 
them  became  in  a  few  years  the  instruments  of  God  in 
an  earnest  revival  of  religion  in  the  church  of  Geneva 
wliich  extended  itself  to  the  Reformed  churches  far 
abroad.  Among  them  were  Frederick  Monod,  Merle 
d'Aubigne,  and  S.  L.  Gaussen  ;  and  Mr.  Malan  who, 
already  a  pastor,  attended  Mr.  Plaldane  privately. 

After  Mr.  Haldane  left  Geneva,  the  work  was  con- 
tinued by  those  whom  he  had  instructed,  with  some 
assistance  from  abroad.  Constrained  to  leave  the  estab- 
lished church,  they  with  thechurcli  members  who  joined 
them,  formed  a  new  church  organization,  as  the  Evangel- 
ical Society  of  Geneva,  with  their  own  School  and  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  In  the  latter  the  first  professors  were 
Gaussen,  Galland  and  Merle  d'Aubigne.  Since  that 
revival  Geneva  has  once  more  become  a  centre  of  evan- 
gelical influences  to  the  continent  of  Europe.  Still, 
rationalism  retains  its  hold  upon  the  established  church 
and  its  theolog-ical  School. 


145 

A  similai-  evangelical  intluence  is  operatino;  in  the 
other  protestant  cantons  of  Switzerland.  It  is  conducted 
by  tiie  cooperation  of  ministers  and  laj-nien  in  an  organi- 
zation called  the  Evangelical  Union.  Yet  there  is  also 
there  a  rationalist  party,  which  presents  itself  as  an  op- 
position. Of  the  twenty-two  Cantons,  twelve  are  pro- 
testant,  ten  being  catholic,  or  chiefly-  catholic.  In  the 
Protestant  cantons  the  established  church  is  the  Reform- 
ed. 

In  the  French  Revolution,  Protestantism,  like  Catho- 
licism, was  equally  free  and  despised  by  those  at  the 
head  of  tiie  government.  Protestants  were  liberated 
from  oppression  but  enjoyed  no  recognition.  In  1802 
Napoleon,  then  first  consul,  granted  them  lawful  tolera- 
tion, and  a  code  of  discipline  founded  on  their  own  acrs 
of  synod;  but  with  the  condition  that  he  should  have 
jurisdiction  over  them  in  all  things.  He  also,  in  1810, 
i-eopened  their  college  at  Montauban  which  had  been 
suppressed  in  1629. 

The  Restoration,  in  1814,  guaranteed  to  Catholicism 
the  authority  of  the  established  religion,  and  to  the  other 
confessions  protection  and  toleration,  After  leaving 
Geneva,  Mr.  Haldane  resided  some  time  at  Montauban, 
and  labored  not  without  effect  for  the  revival  of  orthodox 
doctrine.  But  no  sooner  was  the  Bourbon  dynasty  fully 
re-established,  than  persecution  of  Protestants  was  re- 
newed in  the  South  of  France  (1815-16.)  At  the  remon- 
strance of  England,  Prussia  and  Russia,  it  was  stopped, 
but  the  perpetrators  went  unpunished.  Since  then  the 
Protestants  of  France  have  suffered  many  restrictions, 
but  upon  the  whole,  have  enjoyed  the  ordinary  privileges 
of  French  subjects. 

After  the  Revolution  of  1848,  the  Reformed  Church,^ 
in  a  council  held  at  Paris,  divided  on  the  question  of 
disregarding  creeds  in  the  matter  of  their  organization. 
Frederick  Monod  and  count  Gasparin,  in  defence  of  their 
doctrinal  standards,  protested  against  the  laxity  of  the 
majority,  and  withdrew.  Thirty  congregations  went 
with  them,  and  formed  (1849)  a  new  organization,  known 
as  the  Union  of  Evangelical  churches  of  France. 

In  the  course  of  so  long  a  period  of  persecution  and 
merciless    oppression  the  Reformed  Church   of  France 


146 

was  greatly  reduced  in  uuniber.  But  since  iier  recoo:ni- 
tion  by  Napoleon  I.  she  has  continued  steadily  to  make 
progress  by  the  addition  of  new  congi-egations,  and  her 
evangelical  societies  labor,  as  far  a^  permitted,  to  diffuse 
scriptural  information  tliroughont  the  land. 

Similar  has  been  the  state  of  the  Reformed  Churcli 
in  Belgium,  since  the  revolution  whereby  a  protestant 
king  was  set  on  the  throne  of  that  country. 

With  the  fall  of  the  Republic  of  the  IJnited  Nether- 
lands, before  the  advance  of  French  arms,  also  fell  the 
constitution  of  the  clmrch.  In  1806  a  Kinsfdom  of  Hol- 
land was  formed,  with  Louis  Bonaparte  as  King.  It  did 
not  last  long;  and,  four  years  later,  was  incorporated 
with  the  French  empire.  When,  in  1814,  the  Nether- 
lands were  liberated  from  that  yoke,  it  was  found  that 
everything  of  church  organization  had  perished  except 
the  classes.  The  state  assumed  the  regulation  of  the 
church.  In  1816,  a  general  government  of  the  Reformed 
Church  was  established,  in  which  the  congregations, 
classes,  and  provincial  synods  regained  a  large  part  of 
their  former  rights,  and  a  national  synod  was  constituted 
the  head  of  the  whole. 

So  deeply  had  rationalism  entered  into  the  teaching 
of  the  church  that  when  the  attempt  was  made  to  return 
to  the  standards  of  Orthodoxy,  it  met  with  great,  and  in 
some  respects,  invincible  opposition.  The  spirit  of  revi- 
val however  made  progress,  and  though  it  failed  to  carry 
a  majority  in  the  church,  by  the  year  1832  it  became 
strong  enough  to  constitute  an  important  evangelical 
power.  Among  the  leaders  in  it  stood  the  poet 
Bilderdijk  and  his  pupils  DaCosta,  and  Capadose, 
with  the  statesman  VanPrinsterer.  In  1839  a  portion 
of  that  party  obtained  the  royal  permission  to  form  sepa- 
rate congregations.  This  dissenting  church  of  the  Neth- 
erlands stands  on  the  foundation  of  the  theology  of  Dort, 
and  seeks  after  an  earnest  practical  religion. 

The  government  of  the  established  Dutch  Church  is 
the  most  complete,  and  perhaps  complex,  of  the  Reform- 
ed connection.  The  universities  are  divided  in  their 
theological  viev^s.  Utrecht  is  credited  witli  conservatism 
of  the  old  standards;   Groeningen  is  held  to  be  the  head- 


147 

quarters  of  unitariaiiisni  ;  while  Lejden  seeks  to  com- 
bine Reformed  Orthodoxy  with  the  freedom  of  science. 
Among  the  people  of  Holland  mucli  zeal  and  enterprise 
is  evinced  in  carrying  forward  the  evangelical  work  of 
the  cluircli. 

Under  the  Austrian  rule,  the  reforms  of  Joseph  11. 
and  Lepold  II.  failed  of  effecting  all  that  was  intended 
in  them.  Francis  I.  who  succeeded,  indulged  catholics 
in  their  aggressions  upon  Protestant  rights,  and  involved 
in  wars  with  France,  could  give  little  attention  to  the 
grievances  of  his  subjects.  After  those  wars  liad  closed, 
in  1817,  a  deputation  from  both  Lutlieran  and  Reformed 
churches  of  Ilnngary  waited  U[)on  him.  They  received 
fair  promises,  but  little  was  (bine.  Again  they  applied 
in  1822;  and  again  were  put  oft"  with  promises,  Francis 
died,  in  1835,  without  having  fultilled  them.  Prince 
Metternich  still  continued  at  the  head  of  authority.  A 
royal  resolution  appeared  in  1843  declaring  that  all  the 
difterent  confessions  should  have  equal  rights  and  privi- 
leges. And  yet  the  Hungarian  insurrection,  which 
took  place  soon  afterwards,  was  provoked  by  an  edict  of 
Gen.  Haynau  threatening  the  extinction  of  the  Protest- 
ant churches  of  Hungary.  The  insurrection  became  a 
war  which  issued  in  the  defeat  of  the  Hungarians,  and 
expatriation  of  their  leaders,  at  tlie  head  of  whom  was 
Louis  Kossuth. 

More  recently,  the  increased  strength  of  the  Protest- 
ant churches  of  Hungary  has  enabled  them  to  take  a 
njore  independent  and  energetic  stand,  wdiereby  the 
Austrian  government  has  been  constrained  to  pay  more 
respect  to  their  wishes.  To  the  same  eftect  was  the 
Prussian  war  of  1866,  whereby  Austria  was  expelled 
from  western  Germany,  and  it  became  exceedingly  expe- 
dient for  her  to  propitiate  all  classes  of  her  eastern  sub- 
jects. The  loss  also  of  all  the  Italian  states  now  confines 
the  Austrian  empire  to  the  north  of  the  Alps,  and  the 
lands  of  the  Hungarian  crown  constitute  too  large  a  pro- 
portion of  tlie  whole  to  be  risked  for  the  interest  of  an 
ecclesiastical  chief  in  a  foreign  land,  who  has  lost  all 
power  to  enforce  his  authority  in  temporal  things. 

Surrounded  by  Roman  Catholics,  by  Greek  Catholics, 
by  Jews  and  Turks,  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches 


148 

in  Ilmigary  have  felt  the  expediency  of  mutual  support 
and  cooperation.  In  number,  the  Reformed  are  still  the 
o;reatest,  amounting  in  Hungary  and  the  lands  of  the 
Hungarian  crown  to  2,031,000,  the  Lutherans  to  1,113,- 
000.  As  their  symbolical  books,  the  Reformed  retain 
the  second  Helvetic  confession  and  the  Heideibercr  Cate- 
chism ;  while  the  Lutherans  adhere  to  the  Augsburg 
Confession.  But  in  their  constitution  and  administra- 
tion they  agree.  Each  is  composed  of  four  superintend- 
encies,  or  Synodical  authorities  ;  and  each  superintend- 
ency  contains  several  seniorates,  or  presbyteries  ;  each 
seniorate,  a  number  of  congregations,  and  each  congre- 
gation is  governed  by  its  own  pastor  and  [)residunts. 

PLANTING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CHURCHES. 

The  peace  of  Westphalia  asserted  religious  freedom 
for  nations,  but  did  not  venture  to  liberate  tlie  individual 
conscience.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  many  good 
and  great  men  among  them,  it  was  difficult  for  nations 
having  their  home  by  the  Mediterranean  sea  to  emanci- 
pate themselves  from  opinions  and  authorities  incorpo- 
rated with  their  history,  and  enforced,  if  not  to  a  great 
degree  created  by  their  geograpical  relations.  The  limits 
of  thought  were  greatly  extended  when  commerce  betook 
herself  to  the  paths  of  the  ocean.  Upon  tlie  new  conti- 
nent of  North  America,  for  the  first  time,  was  Protestant 
principle  consistently  carried  into  practice.  The  south- 
ern continent.  Central  America,  Mexico  and  most  of  the 
West  India  islands,  were  claimed  by  Spain  and  Portugal, 
as  the  gift  of  the  pope  ;  and  on  all  those  coasts  the  faith 
of  Rome  was  planted,  and  enforced  with  its  utmost 
severity.  On  the  eastern  side  of  North  America,  as  far 
as  now  held  by  the  United  States,  that  system  was  never 
established.  Discovered  by  protestant  mariners,  that 
tract  of  country  was,  from  the  first,  set  apart  for  the 
abode  of  religions  freedom.  It  was  during  the  op[»res- 
sive  reign  of  the  Stuart  dynasty  in  England,  and,  as  res- 
pects the  continent  of  Europe,  from  the  formation  of  the 
two  antagonist  leagues  which  led  to  the  Thirty  years 
war,  until  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  tliat  the 


149 

earliest  and  most  inipDrlant  settlements  on  that  coast 
were  made. 

Though  numerous  and  somewhat  heterogeneous  in 
character,  a  certain  spontaneous  order  operated  in  them 
which  presents  the  l)asis  of  a  classitication.  The  history 
is  that  of  live  different  groups'  of  colonies.  Virginia, 
New  York,  and  Massachusetts  were  the  earliest,  planted 
in  1607,  1613  and  1620  respectively.  The  first  by  Epis- 
copalians, the  second  by  Dutch  Reformed  and  the  ttiird 
by   Congregationalists. 

Soon  afterwards,  the  country  north  of  Virginia  was 
settled  by  the  Catliolic  eoloriy  of  Baltimore,  under  the 
Protestant  limitations  of  the  English  government. 

The  lands  lying  between  the  Hudson  and  the  head 
of  the  Chesapeake  bay,  first  occupied  by  Dutch,  Danes 
and  Swedes,  were,  together  with  the  Dutch  colonies  on 
the  Hudson,  conquered  by  the  hnglish,  whereby  all  the 
three  original  settlements  were  united  in  one  belt  of 
territory. 

A  fourth  group  had  its  beginning  at  Port  Royal  in 
South  Carolina,  in  1670,  from  which  proceeded  the 
founders  of  Charleston  in  1680,  and  subsequently  of  other 
places  in  the  soutli.  In  religion,  these  colonists  were 
mingled  Presbyterians  and  Episcopalians. 

The  fifth  group  was  tliat  of  the  Quaker  settlements 
in  Pennsj'lvania  and  adjoining  parts  of  New  .fersey,  con- 
stituted by  William  Penn  in  1682. 

France  had  taken  possession  of  the  coast  further 
north,  and  there  introduced  the  missionaries  of  her  es- 
tablished faith. 

Accordingly,  as  respects  religion,  the  catholics  had 
appropriated  all  the  explored  parts  of  America,  north, 
soutb  and  middle,  except  the  line  of  coast  settlements 
jiow  specified.  In  these  the  type  of  doctrine 
which  prevailed  was  that  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
Lutherans  were  very  few.  In  1662  Episcopacy  was  es- 
tablished in  Virginia,  and  in  1703  extended  over  the 
Caroliuas.  It  was  also  established  in  New  York  ;  while 
Congregationalism  was  established  by  the  colonists  in 
New  England,  and  the  Society  of  Friends  maintained 
freedom  of  religion  within  their  own  bounds. 


150 

Presbyterianism  came  into  this  eountrj  by  various 
ways,  but  chiefly  by  two,  jis  connected  witli  the  Coni^re- 
gational  settlements,  and  by  emigration  from  Scotland 
and  Ireland.  Tiiey  were  strengthened  by  Dutch  settlers 
and  Huguenot  refugees.  Without  support  of  govern- 
ment, and  in  some  instan'ces  in  face  of  its  opposition,  tlie 
Presbyterian  churches,  from  the  latter  years  of  tjie  17th 
century,  quietly  but  rapidly  increased  in  number,  esjie- 
cially  in  the  middle  states,  with  a  tendency  to  centralize 
on  the  Delaware  towards  Philadelphia.  Its  first  Presby- 
tery was  organized  in  that  city  as  early  as  1706. 

The  great  revival  which  spread  \)ver  the  country 
about  the  middle  of  last  century  b'-ought  together,  anil 
fused  into  one  the  scattered  evangelical  eleinents.  Its 
greatest  effects  were  manifested  in  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  churches.  The  Presbyterian  "church, 
vyhich  had  previously  been  feeble  and  scattered,  emerging 
from  chaos  and  oppression,  beheld  itself,  in  the  result  of 
the  revival,  a  numerous  and  fully  organized  brotherhood, 
with  its  own  colleges  for  the  education  of  ministers,  and 
general  intellectual  culture. 

The  same  revival  introduced  two  other  actors.  The 
Moravians  appeared  as  Missionaries,  and  only  planted 
stations  and  schools,  with  a  missionary  object  in  view. 
A  few  Methodists  of  tlie  Wesleyan  connection  came  to 
America  between  1760  and  1770.  Their  first  conference 
met  in  Philadelphia  in  1778.  In  the  ettects  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  they  felt  the  necessity  of  an  ecclesiastical 
position  by  themselves  ;  and  obtained  from  John  Wesley 
two  ministeis,  with  authority  as  superintendents,  to  se"t 
in  order  the  government  of  their  churches.  These  super- 
intendents they  accepted  as  bishops,  and  organized  them- 
selves as  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

Baptists  came  to  this  country  first  among  the  Puritans 
of  New  England.  Expelled  from  Massachusetts,  thev 
formed,  on  their  own  principles,  the  province  of  Rhode 
Island.  Subsequent  immigration  enlarged  their  num- 
bers, and  new  societies  were  planted  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  In  colonial  times  they  were  comparatively 
few.  But  a  great  increase  took  place  in  their' numbers 
from  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 


151 

National  independence  o|)ened  the  way  to  entire 
religious  freedom.  In  a  short  time  government  support 
and  restrictions  alike  were  withdrawn,  and  all  denomi- 
nations put  upon  an  equal  footing  before  the  law. 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  ITmted  States, 

Anglican  Episcopacy  although  established  in  New 
York,  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  before  the  Revolution, 
was  sustained  only  as  a  missionary  branch  of  the  church 
in  England.  During  tlie  Revolutionary  war  many  of  its 
ministers  returned  to  the  motlier  country,  and  the  sup- 
port of  the  Propagation  society  was  witlidrawn.  At  tlie 
close  of  the  war,  in  1784,  Dr.  Seabury,  from  Connecticut, 
went  over  to  England  to  ol)tain  Episcopal  ordination. 
It  could  not  be  granted  then  ;  but  he  obtained  it  from 
the  Episcopal  churcli  in  Scotland.  Subsequently  the 
obstacle  on  the  side  of  English  bishops  was  removed,  and 
in  1787  three  bishops  weie  ordained  for  America,  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Dr.  Provost  was  made 
bishop  for  New  York,  Dr.  White  for  Pennsylvania,  and 
Dr.  Griffith  for  Virginia.  Since  that  date  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  has  been  organically  sepa- 
rate from  that  of  England.  It  is  possessed  also  of  some 
features  proper  to  itself,  and  has  consistently  adopted  a 
separate  name,  as  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  It 
recognizes  the  three  ranks  of  the  ministry,  bishop,  pres- 
byter and  deacon,  but  rejects  the  higher  prelacy,  and  its 
highest  authority  is  a  s\'nod,  admitting  of  a  lay  repre- 
sentation. The  doctrines  professed  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  Church  of  England  and  the  liturgy  differs 
oidy  in  as  far  as  the  outward  relations  of  the  church  are 
different. 

The  ConCxRegational  Churches. 
It  was  in  New  England  that  Congregationalism  first 
assumed  its  own  proper  form.  The  pilgrims  who  arrived 
from  Holland,  from  the  instructions  of  John  Robinson, 
landed  at  Plymouth  in  Massachusetts.  Although  sopn 
joined  by  others  directly  from  England,  the  councils  of 
Mr.  Robinson  prevailed  in  the  new  settlement.  And 
now  free  to  worship  God  according  to  their  understand- 


152 

ing  of  liis  lioly  Word,  the  colonists  proceeded  to  study 
their  Bibles  on  the  subject,  and  came  with  sjreat  unani- 
mity to  the  adoption  of  that  ecclesiastical  l)olity  which 
has  been  distinctive!}'  named  congreo-ationalisra. 

It  recognizes  the  Scriptures  as  alone  containing  the 
religion  of  protestants,  and  no  other  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity but  that  of  a  congregation  with  its  elders  and  deacons  ; 
which  accepts  directly  from  the  Lord  all  the  powers  be- 
longing to  a  church  of  Christ.  No  other  church  officers 
are  admitted  than  elders  and  deacons,  and  they  are 
elected  b}'  the  congregation  over  which  they  minister. 
At  the  same  time,  a  commoii  fellowship  of  elders,  or 
ministei'S,  is  observed  among  those  who  hold  to  the  same 
system  of  doctrine,  in  consistency  witli  which  the  pastors 
of  certain  districts  form  themselves  into  associations,  or 
consociations,  for  m\itual  advice  and  aid  in  their  work. 
The  advice  of  the  association  is  generally  respected  ;  but 
is  of  no  governmental  authority.  Consociation  is  a  some- 
what closer  bond. 

The  history  of  the  congi-egational  churches  may  be 
comprehended  under  five  heads. 

1.  From  the  huiding  of  the  Pilgrims  1620  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Cambridge  synod  in  1648,  at  which  the 
Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms  were  accepted. 
Within  that  interval  they  constituted  the  substantial 
elemetits  of  their  church  order,  and  founded  Harvard 
College  (1638). 

2.  From  1648  to  1708,  the  formation  of  the  Saybrook 
platform,  on  the  principle  of  consociation,  within  which 
time,  namely  in  1701,  the  Saybrook  College,  afterwards 
Yale  College,  was  founded. 

3.  From  1708  to  the  tirst  appearance  of  Unitarianism 
in  1756,  within  which  period  appeared  tlie  great  revival 
under  the  preaching  of  Edwards,  Whiteiield  and  others. 

4.  From  1756  to  1805  was  an  interval  of  great  theologi- 
cal conflict,  between  evangelism  on  the  one  side,  and 
rationalism  on  the  other,  until  the  election  of  a  unitarian 
to  the  chair  of  Theology  in  Harvard  College. 

5.  From  1805  to  the  present  time,  including  the  ma- 
turity of  New  England  rationalism,  and  the  persevering 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the    orthodox.      Unitarianism 


158 

found  its  principal  supportei's  in  and  about  Boston,  and 
determined  the  relig-ious  character  of  Ilnrvard  college. 
Another  divergence  from  orthodoxy,  hut  in  the  direction 
of  Semipe'agianism,  arose  in  New  Haven  about  1828, 
whicli  influenced  the  religious  views  of  Yale  ('olleo;e, 
and  prevailed  to  some  extent  among  the  Presbyterian 
churches  of  the  north. 

The  Orthodox  congregational  churches  far  outnum- 
ber the  Unitarian,  and  have,  of  late  years,  evinced  more 
vitality,  more  religious  enterprise,  and  more  zeal  for  the 
proper  objects  of  religion. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America 
consists  of  four  distinctly  marked  periods,  us  tiiat  of  set- 
tlement, until  the  formation  of  the  first  American  Pres- 
bytery in  1705  or  6  ;  second,  that  which  intervened  until 
the  first  General  Assembly  in  1789,  third,  that  of  the 
united  Church  under  the  Gen.  Assembly,  until  the  divi- 
sion in  1838,  and  fourth,  that  of  the  divided  church,  from 
1838  to  the  re-union  in  1870. 

During  the  first  of  those  periods,  separate  congrega- 
tions were  formed  at  distant  places  along  the  Atlantic 
coast,  Irom  South  Carolina  to  New  England,  some  com- 
ing in  with  the  Congregationalists,  and  some  directly 
from  Presbyterian  churcdies  in  Europe.  The  Dutch  upon 
the  Hudson  and  Delaware  would  have  been  a  more  im- 
portant element  in  Presbyterian  history  but  for  the  Dutch 
language,  which  disconnected  those  who  spoke  it  from 
the  people  rapidl}"  becoming  masters  of  the  country. 

The  Purican  immigrations  into  New  England  con- 
tained a  Presbyterian  element,  which  in  the  movements 
from  New  England  southward  gradually  took  its  own 
proper  form  of  governmenf.  Such  were  the  first  English 
speaking  Presbyterian  churches  in  Long  Island,  and  East 
Jersey. 

Progress  of  Presbyterianism  from  the  south  was 
greath'  sustained  by  arrival  of  successive  colonies  from 
Scotland  and  the  north  of  Ireland,  landing  in  Virginia 
and  Maryland.  As  victims  of  oppression  in  their  own 
countries    they   came  without  any  connection   with   the 


154 

cliurclies  at  home.  Entirely  free  to  form  their  own 
chnrcli  order,  they  followed  the  model  of  that  wiiich 
they  had  left,  without  being  under  any  allegiance  to  it, 
or  in  any  way  fettered  by  it.  Most  active  in  the  work  of 
organizing  the  churches  was  Francis  Makemie  of  Mary- 
hmd,  who  arrived  from  Ireland  in  1682.  jSText  to  him 
was  Jedediah  Andrews  from  Boston,  minister  of  the  tirst 
Pi-e^hyterian  cliurcli  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  organ- 
ized about  1608. 

The  Dutch  retained  tlieir  ecclesiastical  connection 
with  Holland,  and  the  Presbyterians  of  South  Carolina 
with  Scotland. 

It  was  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  Mr.  Andrews'  church 
that  the  tirst  American  Presbytery  met,  in  the  year  1705 
or  1706.  Most  of  the  ministers  who  constituted  it  were 
from  Scotland,  but  some  also  from  N^ew  England  and  the 
north  of  Ireland.  Thenceforward  the  increase  of  con- 
gregations was  more  rapid  :  and  ten  years  later,  1716,  it 
was  found  expedient  to  d  vide  the  presbytery  into  three, 
annex  a  fourth,  and  constitute  a  Synod.  In  about  twelve 
years  from  that  date  the  synod  almost  doubled  its  num- 
bers. In  New  York  and  East  Jersey  a  large  proportion 
of  the  church  came  out  of  New  England.  Elsewhere  in 
New  Jeresy,  from  the  settlement  in  Monmouth  and  in 
all  places  further  south,  the  additions  to  Presbyterian 
churches  were  chiefly  by  emigration  from  Scotland  and 
Ireland. 

Both  classes  of  churches  held  to  the  same  standards 
of  doctrine.  And  in  1729,  by  act  of  Synod,  the  West- 
minster Confession  was  formally  adopted,  and  its  accept- 
ance made  obligatory  upon  all  candidates  for  admission 
to  the  Presbyteries. 

On  the  subject  of  education  for  the  ministry  acojitro- 
versy  arose,  in  which  one  side  argued  the  necessity  of  a 
thorough  mental  culture,  and  the  other  side,  the  greater 
importance  of  spiritual  preparation  by  religious  experi- 
ence. At  the  head  of  the  former  stood  Robert  Cross  of 
Jamaica,  Long  Island.  William  Tennant  by  the  practi- 
cal enterprise  of  his  Log  college  sustained  the  latter,  and 
sent  out  from  his  classes  its  ablest  defenders.  Then  came 
the  o^reat  revival,  o-ivin£r  additional  strength  to  the  same 


155 

side,  which  was  chietiy  sustained  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  and  commonly  called  the  New  Side. 
Between  these  two  parties  rose  a  third,  or  niediatiniy 
par  /,  in  which  Dickinson  of  Elizabeth,  Pemberton  of 
New  York,  and  Burr  of  Newark  were  tlie  leadino;  men. 
In  the  year  1741  the  New  Side  separated  from  the  synod, 
and  were  followed  in  1745  by  tlie  mediate  party. 

The  party  of  the  Old  S'ide  in  1744,  established  an 
academy  at  Newark  in  Delaware,  and  another  in  Phihi- 
delphia.  On  the  other  hand,  after  the  death  of  William 
Tennant  and  the  close  of  the  Log  college,  in  1746,  the 
New  Side,  or  more  especially,  the  mediating  party  pro- 
cured from  the  Provincial  government  a  cliarter  for  a 
regular  and  better  furnished  college,  to  be  planted  within 
their  own  bounds.  The  new  institution  was  put  under 
the  presidential  care  of  Mr.  Dickinson  at  Elizabeth.  A 
new  charter  was  obtained  in  1748,  when  after  Mr.  Dick- 
inson's death,  it  was  removed  to  Newark,  and  put  in 
charge  of  the  Rev,  Aaron  Burr.  In  1757  it  was  removed 
to  Princeton,  where  a  large  and  substantial  building  had 
been  put  up  for  the  accommodation  of  the  teachers  and 
students. 

In  1758  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
after  seventeen  years  alienation,  succeeded  in  eftecting  a 
cordial  and  complete  reiinion. 

The  Revolutionary  war  interfered  with  the  operations 
of  the  church.es  ;  and  the  college  at  Princeton  was  for  a 
time  suspended.  Prosperity  returned  with  the  return  of 
peace.  In  three  years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  the  in- 
crease of  the  Presbyterian  church  led  to  the  adoption  of 
measures  for  a  redistribution  of  the  presbyteries  into 
differeiit  synods,  with  a  General  Assembly.  The  plan 
was  satisfactorily  carried  into  eifect  in  1788,  and  the  first 
General  Assembly  met  next  year.  The  succeeding 
fifty  years  was  a  period  of  active  prosperity  and  expan- 
sion. 

Towards  the  end  of  that  time,  a  plan  of  union  between 
Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in  the  western 
settlements,  which  had  been  in  operation  since  1801, 
began  to  create  dissention,  chiefly  from  the  popularity, 
in  those  settlement,  of  certain  doctrines  from  Connecti- 


156 

cut.  By  the  General  Assembl}'^  of  1837  an  act  was  passed 
exscinding  all  presbyteries  composed  of  presbyterians  and 
congregationalists.  With  that  act  a  lai-ge  number  were 
dissatisfied,  and  came  to  the  Assembly  of  1838,  prepared 
for  division,  which  was  carried  through,  and  the  church 
rent  into  two  sections.  That  which  sympathized  with 
the  exscinded  presbyteries  was  called  New  School, 
and  the  other  Old  School.  Litigation  decided  the  inheri- 
tance of  property  in  favoi"  of  the  latter.  Both  sections 
continued  their  evangelical  activity,  and  increase  in 
number. 

As  the  causes,  out  of  which  that  division  grew,  grad- 
ually diminished  in  importance,  and  the  feelings,  attend- 
ant upon  it,  passed  away,  men  on  both  sides  began  to 
perceive  that  the  differences  between  them  were  no 
longer  such  as  to  justify  continued  division  After  care- 
ful preliminary  consultations,  conducted  with  caution  and 
regularity,  but  with  readiness,  on  the  10th  of  November, 
1869,  the  two  assemblies  of  the  Old  and  New  Schools 
met  at  Pittsburgh,  and  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entire 
and  harmonious  reiinion  of  the  churches  represented  by 
them.  Tiiose  of  the  southern  states,  for  causes  of  their 
own,  preferred  to  stand  apart,  and  retain  their  separate 
organization. 

There  are  other  Presbyterian  churciies  in  the  United 
States  which  trace  their  descent  to  Scotland,  Ireland, 
Holland,  Germany  and  France.  An  Associate  church 
was  planted  in  Pennsylvania  (in  1754)  which  had  grown 
into  a  presbytery  before  the  Revolution.  Some  congre- 
gations of  Reformed  Presbyterians,  were  also  planted  in 
the  country  about  the  same  time  (1752).  In  1782  a  union 
was  efiected  between  the  Associate  and  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  churches,  which  took  the  name  of  Associate 
Reformed.  But  some  on  both  sides  declined  it,  whereby 
three  different  organizations  were  constituted.  The  As- 
sociate Reformed,  which  was  strongest,  in  1858  united 
with  the  outstanding  Associate  church,  forming  what  is 
now  called  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
America.  Still  the  union  did  not  contain  the  whole  of 
both  parties. 

The  principal  section  separated  from  the  Presbyterian 
church    of  the    United    States,  on    important    doctrinal 


157 

grounds  was  that  which  arose  out  of  a  revival  in  Ken- 
tucky and  adjoining  regions  westward,  and  designated 
as  the  CumberUmd  Presbytery.  By  licensing  uneducated 
niinistors  to  meet  the  den)ands  of  the  new  congregations, 
that  Presbytery  fell  under  censure  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. In  1810,  it  was  formed  anew,  on  a  separate  footing, 
rejecting  the  doctrines  of  i^redestination  and  limited 
atonement.  It  has  since  become  very  numerous,  in  the 
West,  and  still  bears  tlie  popular  name  of  Cumberland 
Presbyterian. 

It  was  unfavorable  to  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
in  this  conntrv,  in  provincial  times,  that  it  had  no  eccle- 
siastical authority  in  itself,  existing  merely  as  a  depend- 
ency of  the  church  of  HoUand.  Nor  was  that  remedied 
until  1771,  when  John  H.  Livingstone,  who  had  gone 
from  America  to  pursue  his  studies  at  a  Dutch  Univer- 
sity, brought  with  him,  on  his  return,  a  proposal  from 
the  classis  of  Amsterdam,  v;hich  was  laid  before  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Dutch  ministers  in  'New  York,  and  resulted, 
in  1771,  in  the  separate  organization  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  in  America.  A  college  for  the  educa- 
tion of  young  men  for  the  ministry  had,  also  through 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  Livingstone,  been  commenced  in  the 
previous  year  at  New  Brunswick.  It  was  first  called 
Queen's  College  ;  afterwards,  Rutgers.  The  use  of  the 
Dutch  language  in  the  pulpit  was  gradually  abandoned, 
and  has  been  very  little  used  for  the  last  half-century. 
The  doctrinal  symbols  of  that  church  are,  as  in  Holland, 
the  Confession  and  Canons  of  Dort,  and  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism. 

Baptist  Churches. 

The  Baptist  churches  of  the  United  States  came  origi- 
nally out  of  the  English  puritan  connection.  Much  perse- 
cated,?under  provincial  government,  they  have  met  with 
more  favor,  and  increased  greatly  since  the  establishment 
of  the  United  States  Constitution.  In  as  far  as  pertains  to 
church  government,  they  are  independents  ;  and,  with 
exception  of  their  peculiar  view  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Baptism  and  its  corollaries,  they  accept  the  orthodox 
standards  of  the  other  Reformed  Churches. 


158 

Catholic  Church. 

Romanism  was,  until  lately,  a  very  small  element  in 
the  religious  history  of  the  United  States.  Within  the 
last  half  century,  since  the  great  immigrations  of  Catho- 
lic Irish  and  Germans  hegan,  it  has  vastly  increased  ; 
but  still  to  only  a  small  extent  by  conversion  from  native 
American  families.  It  is  now  more  determinately  than 
ever  a  foreign  religion,  by  virtue  of  the  new  dogma  of 
Papal  infallibility,  binding  its  people  by  the  most  solemn 
of  all  obligations,  to  a  foreign  prince,  whose  claims  de- 
mand implicit  obedience  alike  in  spiritual  and  temporal 
things. 

Upon  the  whole  the  prevalent  religion  of  the  United 
States  is  that  of  the  Reformed  Churches. 

Conclusion. 

Finally,  as  respects  the  differences  among  christians, 
the  grand  question,  at  the  present  day,  is  that  of  the 
church,  in  what  it  consists,  and  what  is  essential  to  its 
integrity.  The  various  forms  of  government  adopted  by 
the  Protestant  churches,  in  comparison  with  Latin  and 
Oriental  systems,  have  led  to  a  more  thorough  discussion 
of  this  subject,  than  ever  occurred  in  earlier  times.  As 
the  great  theme  of  controversy  in  the  ancient  Greek 
church  was  Theology  proper,  or  the  doctrine  of  God  ; 
that  of  the  ancient  Latin  Church,  Anthropology,  or  of 
man  in  his  natural  and  covenant  relations  to  God,  and 
that  of  the  Reformation,  Soteriology,  or  the  doctrine  of 
Salvation  through  a  Redeemer  ;  so  in  our  day  it  is  Eccle- 
siology,  or  the  true  doctrine  of  the  church. 


7^::^-:^;.- ^r??.-^' ^^'  ^ 


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BW901.IVI696V.2 

Outlines  of  church  history  :  for  the  use 

Princeton  Theological  Semlnary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00078  0496 


